Author Archives: SmallGovConContributor

SmallGovCon Week In Review February 4 – February 8, 2019

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After a lovely weekend, temperatures have again dropped here in Lawrence. A quick Google search, however, tells me that a certain groundhog didn’t see his shadow last week, so here’s hoping we all get warmer temperatures soon . . . .

In the meantime, let’s warm our hearts with the latest government contracting news. Today we look at how the Pentagon plans to use the cloud and protect itself while doing so, how several companies survived the shutdown as they look toward another, and the millions it costs to settle a procurement fraud investigation.

Have a great weekend!

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GAO: Agency Didn’t Reasonably Evaluate a Potential OCI

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In all competitive procurements, agencies must identify and analyze, as soon as possible, whether a potential contractor has an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest. (OCIs come in three general varieties: unequal access to information, biased ground rules, and impaired objectivity.) If the agency finds one, it must avoid, neutralize, or mitigate the potential OCI to ensure fairness.

As one recent GAO decision illustrates, an agency’s failure to reasonably investigate a potential OCI can lead to a sustained protest.

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In Recent Decision, GAO Finds Agency Documentation Lacking

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When choosing the most appropriate awardee for any federal contract, agencies are required to fully document all procurement decisions and their rationale, especially when those decisions could narrow the competition.

In Soft Tech Consulting, Inc., B-416934 (Comp. Gen. Feb. 1, 2019), GAO held that the Department of Homeland Security failed to adequately document its evaluation decision in a procurement for software development services and recommended that DHA reevaluate all offers from square one.

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Error in Table of Contents Dooms Proposal

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By now, our frequent readers are familiar with GAO’s mantra that it is an offeror’s responsibility to submit a well-written proposal that complies with the solicitation’s requirements and risks being found unacceptable if it fails to do so.

That rule serves its purpose: it helps maintain an organized bidding process, under which the agency can evaluate proposals on an even footing. But it can also lead to harsh results, like it did in a recent protest challenging a proposal’s unacceptability due to its non-compliant table of contents.

Let’s take a look.

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GAO Says SBA Certificate of Competency is (Usually) Outside its Jurisdiction

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The breadth and depth of protests heard by GAO may lead even a seasoned government contractor to overlook the limitations of GAO’s jurisdiction.

As one contractor recently found, the GAO generally will not consider protests based on an allegation that the agency should not have referred an adverse responsibility determination to the SBA for a certificate of competency review.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review January 28 – February 1, 2019

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Happy February, everybody! After a bit of frigid weather here in Lawrence this past week (though not nearly as frigid as it was for our friends up north), we’re gearing up for a spring-like weekend. Don’t get too jealous: it’ll turn cold again just a few days later. Gotta love that Kansas weather!

Now that the federal government is open again (at least for now), let’s take a look at some of the post-shutdown news in this edition of the Week In Review. We’ll look at federal IT spending, mounting shutdown effects, and, as usual, some contractors behaving badly.

Have a great weekend!

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GAO Finds that FEMA Reasonably Evaluated Stafford Act Set-Aside Eligibility

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You’ve likely heard of small business set-asides, SDVOSB set-asides, 8(a) Program set-asides, HUBZone set-asides, and other set-aside categories regulated, for the most part, by the Small Business Administration. But have you ever heard of a Stafford Act set-aside?

If not, you might want to keep reading about GAO’s recent analysis where it assessed whether the awardee was eligible for the Stafford Act set-aside.

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