The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series.  In this series, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice will keep you up to date with a summary of one of the most notable bid protest sustain decisions each month.  Below, Crowell Consultant (and former GAO Bid Protest Hearing Officer) Cherie Owen discusses the Court of Federal Claims’ decision in CAN Softtech, Inc. v. United States, which partially sustained a protester’s challenge to an agency’s corrective action.Continue Reading July 2025 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month: COFC Decision Demonstrates Continued Viability of Corrective Action Challenges

The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series.  In this series, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice will keep you up to date with a summary of one of the most notable bid protest sustain decisions each month.  Below, Crowell Consultant (and former GAO Bid Protest Hearing Officer) Cherie Owen discusses GAO’s decision in DirectViz Solutions, LLC, B-423366, June 11, 2025, which sustained a protester’s organizational conflict of interest (OCI) arguments.Continue Reading June 2025 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month: Impaired Objectivity OCI Allegations Find Success at GAO

The deadlines for filing a GAO protest are short and strictly enforced.  In post-award protests, the general rule is that a company must file its protest within ten days of when the protester knows, or should have known, of its basis of protest.  However, GAO’s regulations provide an exception to this rule for “protests challenging a procurement conducted on the basis of competitive proposals under which a debriefing is requested and, when requested, is required”—in such a situation, “[the] protest shall not be filed before the debriefing date offered to the protester, but shall be filed not later than 10 days after the date on which the debriefing is held.”  4 CFR §21.2(a)(2).Continue Reading GAO Moves the Goalposts: New Post-Debriefing Timeliness Trap for Protesters

GAO’s recent dismissal of a protest filed by A2A Integrated Logistics, Inc. provides an important reminder regarding the strict timeliness rules that apply to bid protests. Quoters were required to electronically submit quotations and A2A experienced difficulty doing so. After contract award was announced, A2A emailed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) stating that it had been unable to submit its quotation. Twenty days later, the VA responded, confirming that A2A’s quotation had not been received; A2A filed an agency-level protest the same day, which the VA dismissed as untimely. A2A then filed a GAO protest.Continue Reading GAO Dismissal Emphasizes that Attempts to Resolve Concerns with Procuring Agency Do Not Extend the Time to File a Protest

A recent Court of Federal Claims decision addressed a novel fact pattern involving a bid protest (seeking bid preparation costs) relating to an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) and has the potential to expand contractor recovery opportunities in both areas of law.Continue Reading Court of Federal Claims Decision Offers Potential Recovery Opportunity for Energy Savings Performance Contracts and Task Order Bid Protests

In a recent pre-award challenge to the terms of a solicitation, a small business contractor challenged the terms of an Air Force solicitation seeking a contractor to provide grounds maintenance at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE), Virginia.  Award was to be made to the lowest-priced, technically acceptable offeror.  In its protest, K&K JL Services, Inc. challenged two aspects of the RFP’s past performance instructions which: (1) required the submission of two past performance references; and (2) defined relevant size as a project with a value of at least $1 million per year.  K&K argued that these requirements were unduly restrictive of competition because they effectively exclude a number of small businesses that are capable of the work.Continue Reading GAO Says “No Prejudice” in Challenged Past Performance Requirements Where Protester is Able to Meet Them