Tag Archives: GAO Jurisdiction

Exercised Options May Be Protested At GAO–But Agency Discretion Is Broad

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Contrary to a common misconception, GAO has jurisdiction to consider a protester’s challenge to the exercise of an option in a competitor’s contract. But GAO’s review is largely deferential to the agency: it will uphold the exercise of an option unless a protester is able to show the agency failed to follow applicable regulations or otherwise should have conducted a new procurement.

A recent bid protest illustrates this deferential review, as GAO denied a protest challenging the exercise of an option where the agency considered pricing and other factors before exercising its option.

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GAO Considers “Intertwined” Protest of Task Order Valued Below Jurisdictional Threshold

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GAO’s bid protest jurisdiction is defined—and limited—by both statute and its regulations. As part of these jurisdictional limits, GAO ordinarily may only consider protests relating to task order procurements if those orders are valued in excess of $10 million.

But despite this rule, GAO recently considered a protester’s challenge to a task order valued at only $8.7 million. It did so after deciding that the challenge was “intertwined” with the protester’s challenge to its own termination for convenience–another matter the GAO only considers in unusual circumstances.

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GAO: IDIQ Awardee Could Not Protest Selection of Fellow Awardee

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The GAO ruled recently that an awardee under a multiple-award IDIQ contract did not have standing the protest the agency’s selection of another awardee.

The decision highlights one of the main tenets of government contracting law: competition is in the government’s interest, and a protest that seeks to reduce competition to the benefit of the protestor could, in a case like this, be thrown out.

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SBA Size Protests: Subcontracting Limits Off The Table

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The SBA does not evaluate compliance with the limitations on subcontracting as part of the SBA size protest process.

In a recent decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals confirmed that subcontracting limits are the domain of the procuring agency, which is to consider compliance (or lack thereof) as part of its responsibility determination.

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No GAO Jurisdiction Where Government Receives “De Minimis” Value

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GAO lacks jurisdiction to decide a protest relating to a solicitation under which the government will receive de minimis value.

De minimis is a fancy Latin term meaning, essentially, “not much.” In one recent bid protest decision, GAO held that it lacked jurisdiction to consider a protester’s challenge to the terms of a solicitation because the solicitation called for the contractor to purchase scrap metal from the government, not the other way around.

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GAO: No Review Of Unsolicited Proposal Protest

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The GAO generally will not review an agency’s decision not to accept a company’s unsolicited proposal to the federal government.

As demonstrated in a recent bid protest decision, because one of the GAO’s functions is to promote full and open competition, the GAO ordinarily will not consider a protest contending that an agency should have made a sole source award based on an unsolicited proposal.

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GAO: No Set-Aside Challenge After Proposal Due Date

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A prospective contractor has the right to file a GAO bid protest challenging an agency’s refusal to set aside a solicitation for small businesses–but only if the protest is filed before the proposal deadline.

In a recent protest decision, the GAO applied the longstanding rule that “alleged improprieties in a solicitation that are apparent prior to the closing time for receipt of initial proposals be filed before that time,” and held that an agency’s failure to issue a set-aside is an “alleged impropriety” to which the timeliness rule applies.

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