Veterans Affairs Snubs GAO?
October 24, 2011
In Aldevra, GAO held that the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006 and implementing regulations required the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct procurements as service-disabled, veteran-owned, small-business set-asides (if market research first showed that two or more SDVOSB’s could perform the work), before purchasing from the Federal Supply Schedule. In a rare instance of an agency defying a GAO recommendation, the VA has reportedly decided that, because “Executive Branch agencies are not bound by GAO's legal advice,” the GAO decision should not be followed, advising VA acquisition and procurement professionals “to continue using the Federal Supply Schedules Program.”
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