It’s no secret to anyone that the landscape of federal government contracting has been rapidly changing in recent years. For instance, there have been concerns that mentor-protégé joint ventures under the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program have been too successful. More recently, changes have been made to small business contracting goals to reduce the agency level requirements for small disadvantaged business (including 8(a) Program) prime contracts. Today, based on a recent GAO report, we are going to take a look at the current state of GAO bid protests which, if you didn’t know, have been around for nearly a century!
Continue readingCategory Archives: GAO Bid Protests
GAO bid protest decisions, commentary on GAO bid protest regulations, and related topics.
GAO Pushes Back on 2025 NDAA’s Fee Shifting Suggestion
Diving into the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) has become something of an annual tradition in federal contracting. There seem to always be some sections that impact federal contracting, pushing for changes in processes or procurements. Part of 2025’s NDAA suggests fee shifting when there is a GAO protest of a Department of Defense (“DoD”) procurement. Basically, the 2025 NDAA suggested that if a bid protest of a DoD procurement is unsuccessful, the protester would be required to pay certain costs. Unsurprisingly, the GAO emphatically objected to this proposed change to its bid protest process.
Continue readingTiming is Everything: GAO Dismisses Post-Bid Protest of Solicitation Terms as Untimely
It is safe to say that every federal contractor, at one time or another, has felt the terms of a solicitation were unfair or otherwise didn’t make sense. Federal agencies are comprised of people, and people make mistakes. Sometimes, then, mistakes make it into the solicitation. Unfair or erroneous terms in a solicitation are a valid grounds for a protest, but it is crucial to know when such a protest is timely. In most cases, if the time for bids has passed, any protest of the terms of the solicitation, be it at GAO or the Court of Federal Claims, will be untimely. There are rare exceptions, but, in general, a protest of terms of the solicitation must be brought before bids are due to be timely. Untimeliness equals dismissal. In this post, we will explore a protest GAO dismissed for this very reason.
Continue readingBack to Basics: Interested Parties
Imagine you’ve submitted a bid for a procurement that you believe your company is a shoo-in for. Nobody comes close to the experience and skills your company brings to the table. A while later, you learn that the new company down the street was awarded the contract. There clearly must be a mistake. The awardee doesn’t have half the experience your company has in this industry. Feeling wronged, you decide to file a bid protest questioning the award at the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Your lawyer informs you that a bid protest may be dismissed if the protester doesn’t qualify as an interested party. But you were an actual bidder who should have been awarded the contract. Of course you’re an interested party—right?
Continue readingFAR 52.222-46 Again? GAO Sustains Protest that Agency Price Evaluation was Unreasonable
Agencies get a lot of discretion when it comes to evaluating proposals. We’ve explored several different cases where GAO affirmed this principle. However, this principle is not absolute. Contrary to what some might think, there are limits on an agency’s discretion when it comes to how it evaluates proposals. Recently, the Air Force was reminded of this fact in a GAO protest concerning a price evaluation. We explore that decision here.
Continue readingWhy File: A Once 8(a), Always 8(a) Protest
As our SmallGovCon readers might know, the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program is often thought of as the golden goose of federal government contracting, at least for small businesses. And it’s true, in some respects. While it is the most difficult of the SBA’s socioeconomic programs to gain admittance to, if admitted, you stand to reap large benefits such as access to competitive and sole-source contracts. And another SBA rule limits the ability to move contracts away from 8(a) Program set-asides. In that scenario, a contract that had been restricted to 8(a) Program Participants is recompeted as a set-aside for small businesses generally or a different socioeconomic category (SDVOSB, WOSB, HUBZone). Less frequently, it might not set aside for small businesses at all. If that happens, what should you do? Well, you should be familiar with what is commonly referred to as the “once 8(a), always 8(a)” rule as well as when to protest a violation of that rule.
Continue readingChatGPT is Not Your Lawyer (Even If it Sounds Like One), Recent GAO Case Confirms
The world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a growing topic that many are eager to share their opinions on. There are people excited to witness this advancement of technology and are eager to implement AI programs into their lives and/or businesses to optimize efficiency. Others are uneasy about the advancements of AI, fearing replaceability or changes in the workforce. Or, there are those who have read one too many science fiction novels and believe that this is the beginning of the end.
A recent decision prompted GAO to weigh in on the use of AI in the realm of federal contracting. Specifically, should companies use AI to draft legal pleadings such as bid protests?
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