GAO Lacks Jurisdiction Over Debarment Disputes
The GAO lacks jurisdiction to decide whether an agency improperly suspended or debarred a contractor from federal government contracting. In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO dismissed a protest...
View ArticleGAO Bid Protests: No Small Business Size Challenges (Usually)
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...
View ArticleGAO Won’t Reconsider Federal Courts’ Decisions In Job Corps Set-Aside Cases
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...
View ArticleGAO: Pre-Debriefing Bid Protest Was Premature
A GAO bid protest was dismissed as premature because the protest was filed before a statutorily-required debriefing was held. In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO determined that the protest was...
View ArticleGAO Task Order Protests: Protester’s Price Does Not Establish Jurisdiction
The GAO’s jurisdiction over task order protests turns on whether the award price of the task order exceeds $10 million–not whether the protester’s proposed price exceeds $10 million. In a recent bid...
View ArticleGAO Task Order Jurisdiction: No Exception For “Bridge” Order
The GAO lacked jurisdiction to consider the protest of a “bridge” task order valued under $10 million, even though the original order related to the bridge exceeded the $10 million threshold. In a...
View ArticleGAO: Email Filings Must Timely Arrive At Official Address
When bid protest document is emailed to the GAO, the document must timely arrive at the GAO’s official protest email address (protests@gao.gov), or the document is not timely filed. As one protester...
View ArticleGAO: No Set-Aside Challenge After Proposal Due Date
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...
View ArticleGAO: No Review Of Unsolicited Proposal Protest
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...
View ArticleNo GAO Jurisdiction Where Government Receives “De Minimis” Value
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...
View ArticleSBA Size Protests: Subcontracting Limits Off The Table
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...
View ArticleGAO: IDIQ Awardee Could Not Protest Selection of Fellow Awardee
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...
View ArticleGAO Considers “Intertwined” Protest of Task Order Valued Below Jurisdictional...
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...
View ArticleExercised Options May Be Protested At GAO–But Agency Discretion Is Broad
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...
View ArticleGAO Won’t Evaluate Subcontractor’s Small Business Status
GAO ordinarily will not hear any argument that is based on a company’s small business status, even if the alleged large company is only a proposed subcontractor. In a recent decision, GAO declined to...
View ArticleFederal Court Protest Causes GAO Dismissal
When multiple unsuccessful offerors protest a solicitation, the GAO ordinarily will dismiss any and all bid protests associated with the procurement in the event one unsuccessful offeror takes its case...
View ArticleGAO’s Task Order Protest Jurisdiction Ends September 30, 2016
After September 30, 2016, unsuccessful offerors will lose the ability to challenge some task order awards issued by civilian agencies. With the House of Representatives and Senate at odds over the...
View ArticleGAO’s Jurisdiction Over Most Civilian Task Order Protests Has Expired
The GAO’s jurisdiction to hear most protests in connection with task and delivery order awards under civilian multiple award IDIQs has expired. In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that...
View ArticleGAO Lacks Jurisdiction Over Certain DoD Task Orders, Too
As previously foreshadowed and discussed in depth, October 1, 2016, marked the date in which unsuccessful offerors lost the ability to challenge most task order awards issued by civilian agencies....
View ArticleSmallGovCon Week In Review: December 5-9, 2016
I don’t know about your part of the country, but here in Lawrence, the temperatures have plunged and it has finally felt like winter for the first time. When temps get cold, I prefer to stay inside...
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