The court was unanimous that the department has not fulfilled its obligation to steer more business to small companies owned by veterans or service-disabled veterans simply by meeting its annual goal.
The decision is likely to help more veteran-owned businesses compete for the billions of dollars in contracts the department awards.
The court was considering a law passed by Congress — and then amplified after the legislation failed to produce enough results — to give preference to small businesses owned by veterans. It came up with a “Rule of Two.”
That means that competition for contracts should be limited to veteran-owned small businesses when the contracting officer concludes that at least two such businesses would bid on the contract and “the award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States.”