Tag Archives: bid protest

Govology Webinar: Avoiding Common Bid Protest Mistakes, September 11, 2025

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Bid protests are an unavoidable part of federal contracting—and they seem to be happening more often as competition grows. What many contractors don’t realize is that the outcome of a protest is often determined before it’s even filed. Understanding the rules, timelines, and procedures is critical to protecting your company’s chances.

In this focused course, federal government contracting attorneys John Holtz and Gregory Weber will break down the most common mistakes contractors make during the protest process—and how to avoid them.

Key topics include:

  • The difference between bid protests and size/status protests
  • What pre-bid protests are and why they matter
  • Critical deadlines and how debriefs affect them
  • How to get the most from a debrief
  • Frequent pitfalls that can hurt the protest success

Please join us for this informative Govology webinar by registering here.

GAO Pushes Back on 2025 NDAA’s Fee Shifting Suggestion

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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.

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Why File: A Once 8(a), Always 8(a) Protest

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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.

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Playing by the Rules: GAO Reminds Agency to Follow Criteria in Evaluating Past Performance

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In federal contracting, often times the agencies are given a good amount of leeway in their evaluations and award decisions, so long as the agency followed the solicitation terms. In a recent GAO decision, an agency was reminded by the GAO that it must follow exactly what it wrote in its solicitation when making its award decision. Specifically, past performance criteria must be followed by the agency in evaluation past performance examples.

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GAO: Agency Must Recognize Novation as Part of Pending Offer

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A recent bid protest decision examines the effect of a novation on a pending procurement. After a complicated procedural history, GAO said that an agency must take into account a corporate transaction and novation, even if the agency wasn’t aware of the novation at time of proposal submission.

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Why File: A COFC Protest

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As a federal contractor, there are many factors to consider in filing a potential bid protest. In this post, we look at the potential considerations, both pros and cons, for filing a bid protest at the Court of Federal Claims (COFC). Below are some of the main items to think about in considering a bid protest at the COFC, as opposed to a bid protest at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or an agency level protest. The decision of whether, and where, to file a bid protest is one that should only be taken with care and, preferably, with the advice of counsel.

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Why File: A GAO Bid Protest Intervention

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When contractors think of GAO Bid Protests, most think of the process from the perspective of the protester. However, the contract awardee is not without a voice in the bid protest process at GAO. While the agency will generally defend the contract award decision regardless, the awardee itself can also have a seat at the table. In this installment in our “Why File” series, we will explore why a contractor would want to file an intervention in a GAO Bid Protest.

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