Last year, we highlighted the Court of Federal Claims’ (“COFC”) decision in Starry Associates, Inc. v. United States, 127 Fed. Cl. 539 (2016), which sharply criticized a Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) decision to cancel a solicitation, a rare rebuke in an area where agencies enjoy considerable deference from the courts. The Court’s … Continue Reading
In mid-December, GAO issued its Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2016. The report reveals, among other things, that GAO’s protest sustain rate for this past fiscal year (“FY”) was 22.56%, almost double that of FY 2015. While this is perhaps the most notable data point, the report once again provides a … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
On July 12, 2016, in Coast Professional, Inc. et. al v. United States, No. 2015-5077 (Fed. Cir. July 12, 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a Court of Federal Claims (“CoFC”) decision, finding that the CoFC erred in ruling that it did not have bid protest jurisdiction over the award … Continue Reading
Many a bid protest has been dismissed for lack of standing. But often that ostensible lack of standing has more to do with how the protest arguments are crafted than the facts underlying the procurement. The Court of Federal Claims’s recent decision in Precision Asset Management Corp. v. United States (No. 15-1495) is a good … Continue Reading
As acquisition timelines become increasingly protracted, contractors face the thorny question of if, when and how to advise a procuring agency of changes affecting an already submitted proposal. In a series of decisions, the Government Accountability Office has held that contractors must inform the procuring agency of any “material change” to a proposal that occurs … Continue Reading
Last week the Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear arguments in Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States, Docket Number 14-916, an ongoing dispute over whether the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act (“the Act”), 38 U.S.C. § 8127, requires the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (“VA”) to set aside all of its procurements for … Continue Reading
Over the past decade, Congress has focused on eliminating excessive “pass-through” charges—charges defined as overhead costs or profits passed to the Government by contractors adding negligible value over work done by lower-tier contractors. The efforts began with the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, which introduced limitations on tiered subcontracts after allegations that the … Continue Reading
In a decision earlier this month, the Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”) found that an agency’s continued evaluation of bids during the pendency of a stay under the Competition in Contracting Act (“CICA”) neither violates CICA nor constitutes “a de facto override” of the stay. The case is Caddell Construction Co. v. United States, Nos. … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently published its decision in a two protester challenge to cost realism adjustments made by the Navy during its evaluation of final proposal revisions (“FPRs”) for a base operations and administrative support services contract. In that decision, the GAO affirmed the Navy’s decision to adjust upward the proposed costs in … Continue Reading
This week, the General Accountability Office (“GAO”) published a decision reaffirming its jurisdiction over protests of “mixed transaction” leases. Generally, GAO’s protest jurisdiction is limited to the procurement of goods and services, which does not include leases of federally-owned property. However, in certain circumstances, a transaction involving a lease includes a procurement of goods and … Continue Reading
On November 18, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual bid protest report for FY 2014. According to the report, 2,561 cases were filed at GAO in FY 2014, up 5% from last year. The total of 2,561 includes 2,445 protests, 50 cost claims, and 66 requests for reconsideration. GAO ruled on 556 cases … Continue Reading
The Court of Federal Claims recently considered the extent to which its Tucker Act bid protest jurisdiction extends to Government “make-or-buy” decisions. In VFA, Inc. v. United States, No. 14-173 (Fed. Cl. Oct. 21, 2014), VFA protested a Department of Defense (“DOD”) announcement that it would “standardize” the various facility-assessment software tools used by its … Continue Reading
When a bid protester decides to accuse an agency of bias, there usually are two separate, potentially cross-cutting concerns: (1) how the allegation might impact customer relations; and (2) whether the allegation will have traction at the GAO or the Court of Federal Claims (the “Court”). A recent opinion by the Court offers some perspective on the … Continue Reading
The GAO recently issued a decision clarifying that a procuring agency’s discretion in best-value procurements, while broad, is not unfettered. In PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, B-409537 (June 4, 2014), GAO sustained a protest by PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) challenging NASA’s award of a contract for audit support services to CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP (“CLA”). PwC alleged that NASA improperly relied upon … Continue Reading
