GAO Lacks Jurisdiction Over Certain DoD Task Orders, Too

As previously foreshadowed and discussed in depth, October 1, 2016, marked the date in which unsuccessful offerors lost the ability to challenge most task order awards issued by civilian agencies.

Although the GAO remains able to hear protests relating to DoD task orders exceeding $10 million, two recent GAO decisions impose an important limitation: GAO does not have jurisdiction to consider awards issued by DoD under a multiple-award contract operated by a civilian agency.

By way of background, for several years, a GAO protest challenging a task order award issued by a civilian agency was not permitted unless it fell under either of the following exceptions:

  1. The protest alleged that the order increases the scope, period, or maximum value of the contract under which the order was issued; or
  2. The protest challenged an order valued in excess of $10 million.

However, the statute included a sunset provision whereby the second basis of jurisdiction–protests involving task orders in excess of $10 milion–was no longer effective after September 30, 2016. Thus, after this date, an unsuccessful offeror’s ability to protest a task order issued by a civilian agency became limited to only protests alleging the order increased the scope, period, or maximum value of the contract. GAO’s recent decision in Ryan Consulting Group, Inc., B-414014 (Nov. 7, 2016), confirmed its lack of jurisdiction over task and delivery orders valued above $10 million issued under civilian agency multiple-award IDIQ contracts.

While unsuccessful offerors can still challenge task orders issued by the Department of Defense if the order exceeds the $10 million value, see 10 U.S.C. §2304c(3)(1), two recent GAO decisions limit its jurisdiction in this area by holding that when DoD places an order against a civilian IDIQ vehicle, the task order cannot be protested.

In Analytic Strategies LLC, B-413758.2 (Nov. 28, 2016), the DoD issued a solicitation under the GSA’s OASIS vehicle. The solicitation contemplated the award of a task order valued in excess of $125 million. After evaluating initial proposals, the DoD excluded the proposals of Analytic Strategies LLC and Gemini Industries, Inc. from the competitive range. Analytic Strategies filed a GAO bid protest on October 3, 2016; Gemini filed a protest on October 28.

The GAO dismissed both protests, finding that it lacked jurisdiction. The GAO held that because OASIS is a civilian IDIQ, orders issued under OASIS fall under the civilian provisions of 41 U.S.C., and cannot be protested unless the protest alleges that the order exceeds the scope, period, or maximum value of the IDIQ contract.  While the protesters contended that GAO had jurisdiction over its protest under 10 U.S.C., GAO found this argument misplaced. GAO stated that it saw “nothing in the relevant provisions of Titles 10 or 41 that authorize a different result because the agency that will benefit from the task order, fund the task order, or place the task order, is an agency covered by Title 10.”

GAO solidified this position shortly thereafter in HP Enterprise Services, LLC, B-413382.2 (Nov. 30, 2016), again finding it was without jurisdiction to hear a protest in connection with a  task order valued above $10 million issued under a civilian agency multiple-award IDIQ. In HP Enterprise Services, the GSA issued a solicitation to holders of the GSA ALLIANT IDIQ, seeking a contractor to provide various IT support services for the DoD. After receiving notice that it had not been selected, HP Enterprise Services, LLC filed a GAO bid protest challenging the award decision. HPES contended that GAO had jurisdiction over its protest pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 2304c(e), rather than 41 U.S.C. § 4106(f), because the procurement was conducted “on behalf” of the DoD, that it was subject to DoD Regulations, and the performance was funded by the DoD. GAO, however, hung its proverbial hat on the fact that a civilian agency issued the IDIQ, writing that “there can be no doubt that the protested task order has been, or will be, issued under a civilian agency IDIQ contract.”

Interestingly, GAO’s recent decisions depart from its previous practice of citing 10 U.S.C.–the DoD statute, not the civilian statute–in cases like these. For example, in Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, Ltd., B-412519, B-412519.2 (Mar. 11, 2016), the Air Force issued a solicitation under the OASIS contract, and an unsuccessful offeror challenged the resulting award decision. In a footnote explaining why it had jurisdiction to hear the protest, the GAO said:

The awarded value of the task order exceeds $10 million. Accordingly, the procurement is within our jurisdiction to hear protests related to the issuance of orders under multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts. 10 U.S.C. § 2304c(e)(1)(B). 

Interestingly, even though the Odyssey Systems case involved the same IDIQ at issue in Analytic Strategies, the GAO did not explain its apparent shift in position.

These jurisdictional matters are very important, but the effect of these cases is likely to be short-lived. The U.S. House of Representatives has recently approved a conference version of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, and the Senate is expected to approve the same conference bill as early as this week. The conference version of the 2017 NDAA strikes the sunset provision of 41 U.S.C. § 4106(f), thereby reinstating GAO’s jurisdiction to hear task order awards valued above $10 million issued by civilian agencies. Thus, assuming the President signs the bill into law in its current form, unsuccessful offerors once again will be free to protest civilian task orders valued above $10 million. We will keep you posted.