GAO bid protest decisions, commentary on GAO bid protest regulations, and related topics.
As we have previously noted on the blog, a substantial number of protests filed before GAO end in voluntary corrective action taken by the protested agency. In recent decision, GAO addressed just how much discretion agencies have in designing corrective actions.
Spoiler alert: it’s a lot.
Continue readingGAO sustained a protest recently where a contractor misrepresented to the agency that it had negotiated offers with incumbent workers when in fact it had not.
Continue readingIn a protest before GAO, prejudice is an essential element. Even if GAO might agree that an agency’s action was improper, it will not sustain a protest where the protester would not have received the award anyway.
That’s what happened in the protest of Benaka Inc., B-416836 et al. (Dec. 16, 2018).
Continue readingGAO defers to agencies on many issues related to their procurements. But GAO will intervene when an agency says one thing, in a solicitation, but does another when it evaluates proposals. In other words, GAO will sustain protests when the agencies disregard their own evaluation criteria outlined in a solicitation.
Otherwise, the agency might–even inadvertently–evaluate proposals unequally–a situation that a just and fair procurement system must avoid.
Continue readingTo file a viable bid protest at GAO, the protester must be an “interested party.” Intuition might say that an awardee under a multiple-award vehicle like a blanket purchase agreement should be able to protest other awardees, right?
The GAO recently held otherwise.
Continue readingUnless a solicitation for a fixed-price contract provides that the agency can conduct a price realism analysis, it can’t. Even so, agencies sometimes perform this analysis without alerting prospective offerors of the possibility.
If they do, however, the ground is fertile for a protest.
Continue readingIn these cold winter months, gloves with touchscreen capabilities are all but essential. Recently, the Army sought to procure touchscreen-compatible combat gloves, but required that all goatskin leather used for the gloves be “100% Domestic” in accordance with the Berry Amendment.
In Mechanix Wear, Inc., B-416704 (Nov. 19, 2018), however, GAO sustained a protest against this requirement because the item being procured was subject to a Berry Amendment exception.
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