The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition and Logistics issued a class deviation waiving the application of Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council regulations implementing President Biden’s project labor agreements (PLA) Executive Order on current and future solicitations for large-scale construction contracts expected to cost $35 million or more. Per the notice, effective immediately, contracting officers at the VA shall not use PLAs for large scale construction projects. The deviation is justified by the U.S. Court of Claims’ January 19, 2025 ruling on several bid protests finding that the implementation of the Biden PLA Executive Order violated “full and open competition” requirements under federal procurement law.
