Effective December 30, 2019, for contracts awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”), a protest can be filed when a CVE verified prime contractor is unusually reliant on a subcontractor who is not verified by CVE or where this subcontractor will perform the primary and vital requirements of the contract. 134 C.F.R. 134.1003 Note that it does not matter whether the subcontractor is a small business.