Tag Archives: GAO bid protests

GAO: Agency Unreasonably Failed To Consider Incumbent Employees’ Salaries

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A procuring agency unreasonably assigned an awardee an “Outstanding” score for its proposal to retain a large portion of the incumbent workforce, even though the awardee intended to offer the incumbent employees significantly lower salaries than the employees were earning on the incumbent contract.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that it was unreasonable for the agency to fail to consider whether the differences in compensation would affect the awardee’s ability to recruit and retain the incumbent workforce.

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Agency Properly Considered Joint Venture Partners’ Past Performance, Says GAO

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A procuring agency properly considered the past performance of a joint venture’s two partners, even though the solicitation prohibited the consideration of subcontractors’ past performance.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that where a solicitation only allowed past performance references for the “prime offeror,” the agency was permitted to consider the past performance of two joint venture partners–the entities comprising a “prime offeror.”

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Proposal Re-Evaluation: Protester’s Scores Could Be Lower Than In Original Evaluation

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When a procuring agency re-evaluates proposals in response to a protest, the agency need not stick with the results of the original evaluation.

As demonstrated in a recent GAO bid protest decision, when an agency re-evaluates proposals, it is expected that the re-evaluation could result in different findings and conclusions–including new conclusions that are not favorable to the protester.

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Limitations On Subcontracting: 1099 Contractor’s Work Didn’t Count

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Under the FAR’s limitations on subcontracting clause, the work to be performed by a 1099 independent contractor did not count toward the prime contractor’s performance.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that a procuring agency properly rejected an offeror’s proposal because the offeror was relying, in part, on an independent contractor to meet its obligations under the limitations on subcontracting clause.

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GAO Won’t Reconsider Federal Courts’ Decisions In Job Corps Set-Aside Cases

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The GAO will not reconsider a bid protest that has been litigated in the Court of Federal Claims and affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO dismissed a protest challenging the Department of Labor’s decision to set aside two solicitations for small businesses, because the federal courts had already ruled that the set-asides were appropriate.

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GAO Bid Protests: No Small Business Size Challenges (Usually)

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To regular SmallGovCon readers this may seem obvious, but protesters keep doing it, so it deserves a post.

By “it,” I mean filing small business size challenges as part of GAO bid protests.  As demonstrated once again in a recent GAO bid protest decision, the GAO typically lacks jurisdiction over size challenges, which must be filed with the SBA.

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Affiliates’ Past Performance: Solicitation Terms Control

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Although an agency may consider the past performance of an offeror’s affiliates under certain circumstances, the extent of the agency’s past performance review is governed by the terms of the solicitation.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that an agency properly refused to consider the past performance of the offeror’s parent company because the solicitation restricted the scope of the agency’s past performance review.

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