Author Archives: SmallGovConContributor

Negotiation Impasse Results in Cancelled Solicitation

Posted on by

In any negotiation, either party may walk away from the deal at any time for any reason. While this is typically viewed as a negotiation “nuclear option,” it does happen. Unlike the private commercial space, doing business with Uncle Sam typically goes through a progression ultimately resulting in an awarded contract.

As one contractor recently discovered, however, agencies still retain the nuclear option–cancelling the solicitation–if they cannot obtain value for the government.

Continue reading →

GAO: Protest Failed to Establish Legal Reason to Sustain

Posted on by

When protesting at GAO, it’s important to explain not only what you believe the agency did wrong, but also the legal significance of that departure.

That’s what Trinity Global Consulting learned recently when GAO dismissed its protest.

Continue reading →

5 Things You Should Know: Pre-Award Bid Protests

Posted on by

Editor’s note: For more information, check out our updated post on Pre-Award Bid Protests.

Small businesses often search for ways to increase their competitiveness for federal government contracts. A sometimes overlooked method is to try to better define the procurement’s requirements in a manner that improves a firm’s chances of being awarded the contract, through a pre-award bid protest.

Here are five things you should know about pre-award protests:

Continue reading →

GAO Finds NASA Effectively Evaluated Risks of the Unknown

Posted on by

NASA is going back to the moon and is looking for private companies to help get it there. In 2018, NASA awarded nine IDIQ Commercial Lunar Payload Service contracts for commercial payload delivery services between the Earth and the lunar surface. This is a sea-change for NASA as “no [United States] commercial company has ever attempted to launch, transit, and land” on the moon.

Prior to award, NASA asked for task order proposals to include a description of risks and mitigation efforts. You might be asking–how can NASA effectively evaluate risk for something that has not been done before? A protester asked the same question, but GAO agreed with NASA’s risk analysis on the project and found the protester’s questions to be mere disagreement with the evaluation.

Continue reading →

COFC Strikes a Blow to VA-Verified VOSBs and SDVOSBs

Posted on by

A few months ago, GAO confirmed that where VA uses GPO as its buying agent, it still must to comply with the Rule of Two in 38 U.S.C. 8127(d) (see our blog post on the case ). After VA took corrective action, however, another bid protest was again filed, but this time in the Court of Federal Claims.

Surprisingly, there, the Court concluded differently, finding that GPO was not required to set aside the procurement for SDVOSBs or VOSBs, despite acting on VA’s behalf. In so doing, it has weakened the Rule of Two.

Continue reading →

Contractor Did Not Release Claims for Flood-Caused Delay

Posted on by

I never give much thought to what I’ll do if the unexpected happens. I assume most people don’t. They expect things to go according to plan. As Meridian Engineering Company found out at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims recently, sorting it out when things don’t go to plan can be a long and arduous process.

Continue reading →

5 (More) Things You Should Know: Bid Protests

Posted on by

It’s early October, which means that the federal government’s end-of-fiscal-year contracting binge has drawn to an end. With the spate of contract awards, this time of year typically sees an increase in the number of bid protests being filed, or at least contemplated.

If you’re considering filing a bid protest, here are five (more) things to keep in mind:

Continue reading →