GAO’s jurisdiction over protests of civilian agency task and delivery orders valued at more than $10 million will sunset today. 41 U.S.C. § 410(f)(3).  GAO will continue to have jurisdiction over Department of Defense task and delivery orders over $10 million — Congress made that jurisdiction permanent in 2011.  10 U.S.C. § 2304c(e).

Pending protests of civilian agency task orders are unlikely to be affected by the sunset of GAO’s jurisdiction. See Technatomy Corp., B-405130, June 14, 2011, 2011 CPD ¶ 107.  But unless and until Congress reinstates GAO’s lapsed jurisdiction, GAO’s ability to review new protests of civilian agency task orders will be limited to protests that an order increases the scope, period, or maximum value of the contract under which the order is issued.

The House version of the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act would reinstate GAO’s jurisdiction, and would make it permanent. But the Senate version contains no such provision.  Stay tuned.

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Photo of Jay Carey Jay Carey

A Chambers-rated government contracts practitioner, Jay Carey focuses his practice on bid protests, and regularly represents government contractors before the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims. He has prosecuted and defended more than 80 protests, including some of…

A Chambers-rated government contracts practitioner, Jay Carey focuses his practice on bid protests, and regularly represents government contractors before the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims. He has prosecuted and defended more than 80 protests, including some of the most high-profile protests in recent years, for clients in the aerospace and defense, biotechnology, healthcare, information technology, and telecommunications sectors. Mr. Carey also counsels clients on compliance matters and all aspects of federal, state, and local government procurement and grant law. He counsels clients extensively on organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) and on strategies for protecting and preserving intellectual property rights (in patents, data, and software).