Contract Our Veterans Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill establishes a government-wide goal requiring at least 5% of all federal prime contracts and subcontracts to go to small businesses owned and controlled by veterans, adding veterans to the existing set-aside categories that already include women-owned and disadvantaged businesses.
• Government contracting officers would be allowed to award sole-source contracts (without competitive bidding) directly to veteran-owned small businesses, as long as the business is a responsible source, the price is fair, and the contract stays within existing dollar limits.
• The bill creates a restricted competition track where only veteran-owned small businesses can bid on certain contracts, provided the contracting officer expects at least two such businesses will submit offers at a fair price.
• To qualify for these contracting benefits, veteran-owned businesses must be registered in an official government database, ensuring only verified veteran-owned firms can participate.
• Federal agencies would be required to track and publicly report contracting data specific to veteran-owned businesses, including breakdowns by sole-source awards, restricted competitions, and unrestricted competitions, creating a new accountability scorecard.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.