Legal Meets Practical

Pricey GAO Protest Fee Is Now a Reality

On April 2, the GAO released a final rule implementing its Electronic Protest Docketing System (“EPDS”). As of May 1, EPDS became the “sole means for filing a bid protest at GAO” (with the exception of protests containing classified information). Also, new protest actions are subject to a $350 filing fee, which is refundable only in the instance of delayed corrective action (Corrective action is where an agency decides to fix the issues raised in a protest rather than have the GAO decide the protest on the merits, generally because the agency believes the protestor is right or that taking such action is in the best interest of the procurement protest). Chances are, this will result in a decline in the number of protests filed. The interesting question is whether this will also result in a steep increase in the percentage of protests that are sustained/receive corrective action, since protestors will only risk the dough on stronger cases.

Guilty Plea for Lies to Obtain SDVOSB Set-Aside Contracts

On May 1, the VA’s Office of Inspector General issued a press release relating to an individual who entered a guilty plea for conspiracy to defraud the VA in the performance of 12 contracts (valued at a total of $1.6 million) intended for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (“SDVOSB”). According to the press release, the company at issue falsely claimed that the veteran owner had majority ownership, when in fact this was not true.

This is an interesting case, given that most issues with SDVOSB fraud seem to center on “control;” i.e., the veteran owner not actually being in the driver’s seat in company decisions, working full-time elsewhere, etc. Ownership, control – it doesn’t matter – when you go through the certification process and start winning contracts because your business is “owned” and “controlled” by a veteran, know this is serious business. You can’t fudge anything, or exaggerate – be truthful, be transparent, and disclose all relevant facts bearing on eligibility. It’s not worth getting in hot water later.

Search for New VA Secretary Continues

In late April, Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson withdrew from consideration as President Trump’s nominee to be the next VA Secretary, amid allegations of prior misconduct at the White House medical office where he is physician to the President. Such allegations including improperly prescribing medications, using his position to abuse and denigrate colleagues, and alcohol abuse on the job. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said the charges stem from nearly two dozen current and former service members who approached lawmakers without congressional prompting. He said he could not verify the validity of each charge, but the volume of the accusations raised concerns.

As such, the search for a new VA Secretary continues, with candidates including acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, former Florida Rep. Jeff Miller (whose fine work I have blogged about on numerous occasions), and Ron Nichol, a senior advisor to the Boston Consulting Group. President Trump has indicated he intends to pick someone with a more political background for the role, with the objective of navigating the confirmation process in a divided Senate.

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If you are procrastinating in applying for verification or re-verification with the VA’s Vendor Information Program (i.e., VetBiz), spend the next week getting your documents together and hitting “submit!” On May 21, the VA is suspending the ability to submit any new applications or re-verification applications for 30 days, in order to facilitate the transition to a new case VIP interface.

In a notice sent out just today, the VA’s Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) is citing a number of changes made during this shutdown. However, if you take a look at their list, is the 30-day wait worth it?

• First, the VA is creating a new “single sign-on login process,” which comes with a different process for veterans versus non-veterans/representatives. However, no information has been provided as to how this sign-in process is an improvement over the old. (As for me, I never had an issue with signing on. It was frustrating to re-set my password every 90 days and adhere to the strange password requirements, but there’s no indication that different password requirements come with the change).
• Second, Sam.gov validation is now automatic when you enter your DUNS number. It appears that your DUNS number has to be right to sync with Sam.gov and give you access to the VetBiz portal. The VA claims this “eliminates Veteran frustration when submitting applications with incorrect DUNS or incomplete SAM registration.” However, how often would this issue really arise? Most folks know how to enter a DUNS number, and to already be in Sam.gov when applying for VetBiz registration.
• Third, and most substantively, the VA cites changes to the “dashboard capabilities and enhanced Veteran process enhancement,” providing a list of changes in its May 14, 2018 notice that went out to all veterans in the VetBiz system. However, some of these likely won’t make a difference. It will be “easier to upload individual taxes,” but the process now is basically the same as uploading an attachment to an email (requiring two clicks of the mouse). Same thing with uploading resumes. It will, however, be nice to be able to automatically request ten-day extensions for most document requests and to submit and track the status of Help Tickets, so that’s definitely an improvement.

What do you think? If you’ve been through the VetBiz process and someone had asked you how to make the process easier from a technical standpoint, what would you have changed? (I for one would have permitted the deletion of irrelevant or duplicative documents – unfortunately, once you hit “submit,” whatever is in your portal stays in forever!).

*Did you find this article informative? If so, sign up for Sarah Schauerte’s legal blog on veteran business issues at: https://legalmeetspractical.com.