SBA size protests must be filed with the contracting officer, who then forwards the size protest to the SBA Area Office for review. The U.S. Government Accountability Office lacks jurisdiction to consider size protests, and filing a SBA size protest with the GAO will be ineffective, as one contractor recently discovered.
Tag Archives: GAO Jurisdiction
GAO Has Jurisdiction Over BPA Modification Protests
The GAO has jurisdiction to decide protests challenging modifications to blanket purchase agreements, according to a recent GAO protest decision. In Crewzers Fire Crew Transport, Inc., B-406601 (July 11, 2012), the GAO rejected a procuring agency’s argument that BPA modifications are a matter of contract administration, and thus outside the GAO’s protest jurisdiction.
GAO: Agency’s SBIR Phase III Decision Not Protestable
A procuring agency’s decision not to enter into a Small Business Innovation Research program phase III funding agreement cannot be protested to the GAO in most cases, according to a recently-released GAO bid protest decision.
In Complere, Inc., B-406553 (June 25, 2012), NASA awarded Complere SBIR phase I and phase I research contracts. After the phase II contract concluded, Complere submitted an unsolicited phase III proposal, which NASA did not accept–electing instead to do its own research on the topic in-house. Complere filed a GAO bid protest, alleging that NASA had acted improperly.
Same As It Ever Was: GAO Confirms Reinstatement of $10 Million Task Order Bid Protest Threshold
In 2008, Congress granted GAO the authority to hear bid protests of task orders valued at more than $10 million. After this provision sunset in 2011, the GAO held in Technatomy Corp., B-405130 (June 14, 2011), that it had authority to hear bid protests of task orders of any size.
Congress, apparently, did not approve of GAO’s newfound expansion of its bid protest authority. In December 2011, it passed legislation to reinstate the $10 million threshold. Notably, the amendment applies to task order solicitations issued during that “golden period” between June and December 2011.
GAO’s Bid Protest Jurisdiction Encompasses OPIC Procurements
The GAO has ruled that it has jurisdiction over bid protests filed on Overseas Private Investment Corporation (“OPIC”) procurements.
In MFM Lamey Group, LLC, B-402377 (Mar. 25, 2010), the GAO rejected OPIC’s argument that its procurements fall outside GAO’s jurisdiction. GAO has jurisdiction over protests of procurements by a “federal agency.” Although OPIC is a government-owned corporation, not an agency, GAO held that the definition of “federal agency” in the Competition in Contracting Act (“CICA”) includes wholly-owned government corporations, and thus gives the GAO bid protest jurisdiction over OPIC.
Unfortunately for the protester in the MFM Lamey Group case, the jurisdictional victory was the only win it got. After holding that it had jurisdiction, the GAO went on to deny the protest.
Contractors May File GAO Bid Protests on BPA Task Orders Under $10 Million
The GAO’s authority to hear bid protests of task orders is generally limited to instances in which the task order at issue is valued over $10 million. However, the GAO recently held that the limit doesn’t apply to task orders issued under Blanket Purchase Agreements (“BPAs”). Contractors competing for task order awards under BPAs should be aware that they may file bid protests with the GAO, even where a task order is valued at far less than $10 million.