DEPT OF VA - RULE OF TWO DECISION

​On May 30, 2017, the Court of Federal Claims publicly released its May 12, 2017 decision in the matter of PDS Consultants, Inc. (Plaintiff) v. the United States (Defendant) and Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind (Defendant-Intervenor).  In this case, the Court was asked to decide the construction of two statutes: the Veterans Benefits Act of 2006, 38 U.S.C. §8127(a) (VBA) and the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act, 41 U.S.C. § 8501-06 (JWOD).  The issue before the Court involved whether the “Rule of Two” analysis called for in the VBA, which (with some exceptions) requires the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to determine whether there are at least two veteran-owned small businesses capable of performing work before procuring goods and services elsewhere, supersedes the JWOD mandate of government agencies, including the Veterans Administration, to purchase products and services that are on the procurement list from designated nonprofits employing the blind and people with significant disabilities.  While the Court agreed that the VBA and the JWOD “are not necessarily in conflict in all cases,” it held that the Veterans Administration must perform the Rule of Two analysis first and reserve competition to veteran-owned small businesses, where applicable.  The Court added, “because the VBA is more specific than the JWOD statute in that it applies only to the VA for all of its procurements, the VBA must be read to take precedence over the JWOD.”  This decision is 25 pages and provides important details.  To read it, click here.