Is 30 Primes enough for the $60.7B VA T4NG2 IDIQ? Not everyone thinks so. Congress just sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs expressing concerns, while requesting a range of documents and information as soon as possible, including a detailed explanation of the rationale for the decision to award just 30 firms access to T4NG2.
“The Honorable Denis McDonough
Secretary
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Dear Secretary McDonough:
The Committee on Small Business (Committee) is investigating the limited number of awards made in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation 2 (T4NG2) contract vehicle. T4NG2 can award up to $60.7 billion in information technology (IT) services. The Committee is concerned the VA decision to award just 30 firms access to T4NG2 unnecessarily prevented additional entities, particularly many small businesses, from receiving part of this massive contract.
We write today to request documents and information related to this decision. A key priority of this Committee is reversing the dangerous trend of small businesses being squeezed out of federal procurement. The T4NG2 contract has the potential to provide many small businesses with growth potential while providing services in support of our nation’s veterans. Given the increased award amount in T4NG2, it seems the VA missed a crucial opportunity to include hundreds of capable small businesses, including those owned by serviced disabled veterans. The award ceiling for T4NG2 rose 172.2 percent compared to the previous iteration in 2016 of $22.3 billion. At the same time, the number of firms selected only rose 42.9 percent—up to 30 contractors from 21 in 2016. It is unclear why the VA determined the contract amount should increase nearly 200 percent without proportionally increasing the number of selected to service the contract.
The American people deserve to know that small businesses are being adequately included in efforts to serve our veterans. We therefore request the following documents and information as soon as possible but no later than February 8, 2024…”
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