Letter to The Honorable Denis McDonough, Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs (January 25, 2024)

Summary

The Committee on Small Business writes to Secretary Denis McDonough of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on January 25, 2024, stating that it is investigating the limited number of awards made in the T4NG2 contract vehicle, which can award up to $60.7 billion in information technology (IT) services. It states concern that the VA decision to award just 30 firms access to T4NG2 prevented additional entities, particularly many small businesses, from receiving part of the contract. The letter requests documents and information no later than February 8, 2024, and a staff level briefing no later than February 1, 2024. The signature block names Chairman Roger Williams and Chairman Nick LaLota of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure.

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Full text

                                            January 25, 2024

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.1 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 service-
disabled veterans. The award ceiling for T4NG2 rose 172.2 percent compared to the previous
iteration in 2016 of $22.3 billion.2 At the same time, the number of firms selected only rose 42.9
percent—up to 30 contractors from 21 in 2016.3 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:

    1. A detailed explanation of the rationale for the decision to award just 30 firms access to
       T4NG2.


1
  Grace Dille, VA Awards 30 Contractors Some of $61B T4NG2 Contract, MERITALK (Nov. 1, 2023).
2
  Id.
3
  Id.
The Honorable Denis McDonough
January 25, 2024
Page 2 of 2

      2. A detailed explanation as to whether VA is concerned if many of the small businesses
         selected will most likely “size out” of their small status after winning work on just a few
         task orders.

      3. A list of all considerations given to joint-venture (JV) firms compared to those without a
         JV.

      4. A detailed list of all outreach made to service-disabled veteran and veteran owned
         businesses to inform them of T4NG2 including, but not limited to, the number of events.

        In addition to the above requests, we request a staff level briefing on this matter as soon
as possible but no later than February 1, 2024.

        To schedule the delivery of responsive documents or ask any related follow-up questions,
please contact Committee on Small Business Majority Staff at (202) 225-5821. The Committee
on Small Business has broad authority to investigate “problems of all types of small business”
under House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this inquiry.

                                          In God We Trust,



_________________________                              _________________________
Roger Williams                                         Nick LaLota
Chairman                                               Chairman
Committee on Small Business                            Subcommittee on Contracting and
                                                       Infrastructure


cc:      The Honorable Nydia M. Velasquez, Ranking Member
         Committee on Small Business


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