The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit narrowly interprets the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act’s bar on task order protests at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, expanding the court’s bid protest...more
Impacted by an acquisition where an unusually high number of protests were filed and sustained, the GAO’s sustain and effectiveness rates increased to 31 and 57 percent, respectively.
The number of filed Government...more
The effectiveness rate increased to 51 percent.
The number of filed Government Accountability Office (GAO) protests dropped another 12 percent, after dropping 12 percent in 2021....more
A Court of Federal Claims decision holds that offerors do not have a duty to inform agency of changes to key personnel availability after submission of proposal.
- The decision departs from well-settled GAO precedent.
-...more
On November 16, 2021, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2021. The GAO’s report, which is mandated by the Competition in Contracting Act, lists its...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit confirms that a protester seeking to avail itself of the statutory “automatic stay” of performance in connection with a GAO bid protest must file that protest within five days...more
2/9/2021
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Automatic Stay ,
Bid Protests ,
CICA ,
COFC ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
GAO ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
Recent GAO protest decision provides a painful reminder that protests that run afoul of the “diligent pursuit” rule will be dismissed as untimely.
GAO’s Bid Protest Regulations contain strict rules for the timely...more
Effectiveness rate increases to 51 percent, the highest on record.
GAO’s effectiveness rate increased to 51 percent from 44 percent in FY 2019 and 2018.
GAO’s sustain rate increases to 15 percent from 13 percent in FY...more
GAO’s sustain rate dropped to 13 percent, the lowest level since Fiscal Year 2015.
Protest activity at the GAO decreased by 16 percent over the previous year....more
The Act extends from three to five years the “look-back” period for determining whether a government contractor qualifies as a small business based on its average annual revenue. A recent GAO decision held that the Act will...more
SBA’s proposed rule extends the measurement period from three to five years for contractors under revenue-based size standards to determine eligibility as a small business for federal procurement, including set-aside...more
GAO’s sustain rate and effectiveness rate both dropped to the lowest levels since Fiscal Year 2015.
Protest activity at the GAO increased slightly over the previous year....more
President Donald Trump signed the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes a top-line budget of $717 billion and includes significant provisions for government contractors.
DoD is required to...more
The FY 2019 NDAA requires DoD study multiple protest filings, and develop a plan for an expedited protest process for small contracts.
Congress is concerned about the delays caused by bid protests that have been filed at...more
In a recent decision, GAO addressed timeliness rules for enhanced debriefing situations.
Enhanced Debriefing rule does not alter GAO timeliness rules....more
7/31/2018
/ Bid Protests ,
CICA ,
Debriefing ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Filing Deadlines ,
GAO ,
NDAA ,
Offerors
Newly published draft DoD Guidance for Reviewing System Security Plans (SSP) and the “NIST SP 800-171 Security Requirements Not Yet Implemented” answer some questions but may also result in an increased protest docket due to...more
5/17/2018
/ Bid Protests ,
Bid Solicitation ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Draft Guidance ,
NIST ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
New final rule implements electronic filing system and other key changes.
GAO has implemented a formal electronic filing system and imposed a one-time, nominal filing fee. ...more
4/5/2018
/ Bid Protests ,
CICA ,
Comment Period ,
Electronic Filing ,
Federal Contractors ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Fees ,
Final Rules ,
GAO ,
New Regulations ,
Redaction
A Congressionally mandated research study demonstrates that bid protests filed against Department of Defense (DoD) procurements do not unduly delay these acquisitions and are not frivolous.
More than 99.7% of DoD contracts...more
For Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions, the Conference Report for FY 2018 NDAA includes enhanced debriefing rights and pilot program for protester payment of Government costs for denied GAO bid protests.
Enhanced DoD...more
In a unanimous decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 1, 2017, the Court held that an otherwise successful protester could not recover its attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice...more
On December 23, 2017, President Obama signed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contains changes to the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) jurisdiction over contractor bid protests of task order...more
Two new statutes—the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the GAO Civilian Task and Delivery Order Protest Authority Act of 2016 (Civilian Task Order Act)—greatly impact the ability of government contractors to...more
On April 15, 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would amend its current bid protest regulations, codified at 4 C.F.R. Part 21.1 The proposed rule adds a degree...more