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

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.

Webinar: CMS Reverse Industry Day, August 3, 2023, 10:00am EDT

On behalf of CMS (Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services), the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) and the Professional Services Council (PSC) will host a 90-minute virtual industry-led discussion, with our very own Nicole Pottroff as a presenter. The webinar will provide an in-depth look and interactive conversation regarding CMS procurement protests–the common factors and considerations contractors take into account when deciding whether to protest CMS procurement decisions, when to protest them, where to protest them, etc.–and what actions CMS program and contract officials could take during the procurement process to reduce the likelihood of a preventable protest and help ensure fair and transparent competitions and acquisitions. Topics may include:
• Current protest trends at CMS and comparisons to HHS and other civilian agencies;
• Recompetes v. new requirements – understanding the incumbent advantage and how to ensure fairness for all;
• Joint Venture (JV) and Mentor-Protégé JV arrangements and small business set aside decisions;
• Price realism / avoiding the “race to the bottom”;
• Best value trade off decisions v. Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) evaluations;
• Different types of evaluation methodologies (e.g., oral presentations, coding challenges, self-score cards, etc.);
• What makes a quality debrief; and
• Industry answers to Government questions regarding protests.

Please register here for this informative event.

Five Things You Should Know: GAO Bid Protest Interventions

Intervening in a GAO bid protest can be an important way to protect a federal contractor’s award. But when can you and should you intervene? Here’s how this might come up. As a federal contractor, you work hard to submit the best proposal you can, and then find out you win the award. A few days after, you find out you’ve been protested as part of a GAO bid protest. What are your options for responding to such a protest? Below, I’ll discuss the five things you should know about intervening in a GAO bid protest.

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GAO Confirms You Cannot Challenge Another Offeror’s Inclusion in the Competitive Range

An offeror in the competitive range cannot protest another offeror’s inclusion in the competitive range, according to GAO. In a recent decision, GAO dismissed an offeror’s protest as premature when both offerors were included in the competitive range. 

After a series of protests and corrective actions, GAO recommended to include a previously excluded offeror in the competitive range for consideration. The competing offeror protested this inclusion, and GAO dismissed the protest.  

Why would GAO dismiss this protest?  Here is what you need to know. 

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Beta.SAM.gov: Check Early & Check Often!

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: when it comes to submitting your GAO protest, meeting GAO’s strict timeliness requirements is a must. So is watching out for notices on contract awards posted online. In Prudential Protective Services, LLC, B-418869 (Aug. 13, 2020), the protest was dismissed as untimely because it was filed more than 10 days after notice of the award was posted to beta.SAM.gov.

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Persistence Pays: GAO Sustains After Fourth Protest Due to Unreasonably Narrow Corrective Action

In its recent decision, Peraton, Inc., B-416916.8, et al. (Aug. 3, 2020), GAO ultimately sustained a protest that the Department of State’s corrective action was unreasonably limited—recommending the protester be reimbursed its protest costs in the process.

For more on how it reached this result, buckle up! Because it was a long road for the protester to reach the GAO sustain.

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COVID-19 Lockdown No Excuse for Late Filing, GAO says

In a recent bid protest decision, GAO said being under a COVID-19 “Stay at Home Order” was no reason to miss a comments filing deadline.

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