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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Biggest Loser: GAO Dismisses Marines’ Reconsideration Request on Magazine Pouch Weight

A few months ago, we blogged on a sustained GAO decision that concluded the Marines had failed to evaluate offerors in accordance with the Solicitation. Specifically, GAO identified issues with the evaluations of offeror samples, and recommended that the Marines reevaluate offerors. In the wake of GAO’s decision, the Marines filed a request for reconsideration.

Unfortunately, the Marines request did not comply precisely with GAO’s filing procedures, resulting in a dismissal.

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GAO: We’re Not Wrong, But Our Original Recommendation Was Not Right

Whenever GAO issues a bid protest decision, some parties are happier than others. In limited circumstances, however, an unhappy party may petition GAO to reconsider its decision if the outcome was based on errors of either fact or law. It is extremely rare for GAO to reverse itself during a reconsideration request.

That may explain why in a recent reconsideration decision, GAO maintains that its decision was correct based on the facts presented to it, but GAO nevertheless modified its recommendations substantially in the face of new facts.

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