“Whether the provision that ‘veterans . . . may not be denied the opportunity to compete’ in section 2 of the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (‘VEOA’), Pub. L. No. 105-339, § 2, 112 Stat. 3182, 3182 (1998) (codified at 5 U.S.C. § 3304(l)) (previously codified at 5 U.S.C. § 3304(f)), excludes from its coverage veterans applying for positions from within the federal civil service.”
“We conclude that the VEOA guarantees veterans and preference eligibles the right to compete regardless of their status as current federal employees. Accordingly, we hold that under § 3304(f)(1) an agency cannot rely on a veteran’s or preference eligible’s status as a current federal employee to deny him or her the right to compete, a right enforceable before the Board.”
