Magellan Solutions USA, Inc. (36C24225Q1010)

B-424079 Jan 29, 2026 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Magellan Solutions USA, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Melbourne, Florida, protests the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) decision to award a sole-source contract to VIA Visually Impaired Advancement for switchboard operation services at the Buffalo VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Buffalo, New York. The protester contends that the agency improperly awarded the contract to VIA, an AbilityOne non-profit agency, without establishing that the requirement qualifies as a "covered service" under the Department of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference Consistency Act (Consistency Act), Pub. L. No. 116-155, § 2, 134 Stat. 698, 698-699 (2020), and section 8127(d)(2) of title 38 of the United States Code. The protester contends that the agency was instead required to consider setting aside the requirement for SDVOSBs. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: Magellan Solutions USA, Inc. File: B-424079 Date: January 29, 2026 Xerxes S. Hammond for the protester. Natica Chapman Neely, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Kasia Dourney, Esq., and Alexander O. Levine, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that agency improperly procured switchboard operating services from AbilityOne non-profit agency, rather than from service-disabled veteran-owned small business, is denied where protester fails to show that the procurement violated the requirements of the Department of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference Consistency Act. DECISION Magellan Solutions USA, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Melbourne, Florida, protests the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) decision to award a sole‑source contract to VIA Visually Impaired Advancement for switchboard operation services at the Buffalo VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Buffalo, New York. The protester contends that the agency improperly awarded the contract to VIA, an AbilityOne non-profit agency, without establishing that the requirement qualifies as a “covered service” under the Department of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference Consistency Act (Consistency Act), Pub. L. No. 116-155, § 2, 134 Stat. 698, 698-699 (2020), and section 8127(d)(2) of title 38 of the United States Code. The protester contends that the agency was instead required to consider setting aside the requirement for SDVOSBs. We deny the protest. On October 2, 2025, the VA published an award notice on the SAM.gov[1] (System for Award Management) website, announcing its sole-source award of a contract to VIA. Contracting Officer's Statement (COS) at 1; Agency Report (AR), Exh. 3, Award Notice at 1. The award notice indicated that the agency was procuring the services under the AbilityOne program.[2] AR, Exh. 3, Award Notice at 1. After the agency posted the notice, Magellan submitted this protest. Magellan generally asserts that the agency improperly procured these services under the AbilityOne program instead of setting the requirement aside for SDVOSBs. See, generally, Protest. Specifically, the protester contends the VA failed to show it was permitted to procure the services at issue from an AbilityOne non-profit agency, with the agency improperly relying on a “narrow AbilityOne exception” created by the Consistency Act, which requires that: (1) the product or service being sought has been on the AbilityOne procurement list “on or before December 22, 2006, and (2) an AbilityOne contract for that same requirement [was] in effect on August 7, 2020.”[3] Id. at 2. As such, Magellan alleges that by awarding the contract under the AbilityOne program--without first satisfying the requirements of the Consistency Act--the agency violated the “Rule of Two,” i.e., the statutory obligation to give priority to SDVOSBs under 38 U.S.C. § 8127(d), which requires the agency to set aside a procurement for SDVOSBs when there are two or more qualified firms that can perform the work at fair and reasonable prices. The VA argues that the protester “cites to no authority to demonstrate that SDVOSB vendors have priority for VA procurements pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 8127 over the qualified non-profit agency for the blind where the required services have been on the [p]rocurement [l]ist since June 10, 1996.” Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 5. The VA adds that Magellan “fails to provide any authority requiring the [a]gency to provide documentary evidence to [p]rotester demonstrating that an AbilityOne contract for switchboard operation services for the Buffalo VAMC was in effect on August 7, 2020[.]” Id. Similarly, the agency maintains that Magellan failed to demonstrate the VA had to prove that the procured services are “essentially the same as the switchboard operation services listed on the AbilityOne [p]rocurement [l]ist.” Id.