2024-2025 Bid Protest Decisions with Far-Reaching Impacts for Government Contractors
Navigating Bid Protest Choices at GAO and COFC
DE Under 3: U.S. GAO Report on Military Spouse Employment Focused on Challenges of Part-Time Work
A Discussion with GAO General Counsel Edda Emmanuelli Perez
GovCon Perspectives Podcast Episode 24: Effective Use of “Open and Frank” Discussions in Bid Protests
Award Protests: Choosing the Forum
How to Assess the Likelihood of Success in Deciding Whether to Bring a Bid Protest
One of the most powerful but often misunderstood tools available to government contractors is the pre-award protest. Unlike post-award protests, which generally challenge the outcome of a procurement, pre-award protests...more
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims recently issued a significant opinion in Gemini Tech Servs., LLC v. United States, holding that the Army’s failure to follow required procedures under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)...more
In a cautionary decision that reinforces the importance of strict compliance with solicitation instructions, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently denied in part and dismissed in part a protest challenging a...more
On September 19, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report highlighting a gap in current Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs) restrictions. According to the report, the Federal Acquisition Regulation...more
On April 1, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) opened its Contractor Portal for its annual Affirmative Action Program (AAP) certification. Covered federal contractors and...more
In a January 2024 bid protest denied by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), an all-too familiar issue regarding allegedly late email bid submissions timeliness brought the split between GAO and the Court of Federal...more
This month's protest spotlight highlights three decisions by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The decisions feature arguments that unsuccessful offerors often want to make, but that are rarely successful, as well as...more
On November 21, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest, arguing that the terms of a solicitation were biased and that the awardee failed to comply with a mandatory solicitation...more
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has created a potential trap regarding the beginning of the 10-day protest timeliness period when an offeror receives information from the contracting office outside of the...more
Claims Cases Aries Construction Corp. v. United States, No.22-166C (February 21, 2023) - Court of Federal Claims Judge Schwartz issued an opinion discussing the relationship between the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) claim...more
The CDA has a reputation as a “catchall” for disputes between federal contractors and the government – and to a certain extent that reputation makes a lot of sense. As I’ve been covering in this series, contractors can...more
This month’s Bid Protest Roundup covers three recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) decisions: a challenge to an agency’s decision to take corrective action, a protest that an agency unfairly ignored a proposal...more
Welcome to Jenner & Block’s Government Contracts Legal Round‑Up, a biweekly update on important government contracts developments. This update offers brief summaries of key developments for government contracts legal,...more
Welcome to Jenner & Block’s Government Contracts Legal Round-Up, a biweekly update on important government contracts developments. This update offers brief summaries of key developments for government contracts legal,...more
A 2016 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report noted that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) did not have an official method of validating contractors’ affirmative action plans or programs (AAP)...more
Over the past several years, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has been inching towards requiring all covered federal contractors to annually verify whether they have...more
While GAO does not make any recommendations in its report, it provides a useful overview of the federal government’s implementation of Section 3610. Agencies made relatively little use of their Section 3610 authority...more
Quick Hit: OFCCP’s Directive 2019-04 reveals the development a Voluntary Enterprise-Wide Review Program (“VERP”). Once established, contractors will be able to voluntarily participate in the program, submitting themselves to...more
If your company: sells goods or services to the federal government; or - sells goods or services to companies that use those goods or services in the products they sell to the federal government, you need to read this...more
A disappointed bidder’s protest strategy includes deciding whether to initiate the protest with the procuring agency, the Government Accountability Office or the U. S. Court of Federal Claims....more
Confronting an exclusionary solicitation or failing to win an award can be highly frustrating. Putting aside emotion and applying practical and objective criteria to the situation will help companies assess whether there is...more
Two common themes run through the cases we have chosen for this month’s bid protest roundup. The first three decisions explore some pitfalls relating to the timeliness of proposals and protest grounds. The last two...more
Department of Energy contractors and subcontractors may be subject to additional civil penalties. The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently published proposed revisions to its procedural rules for nuclear activities in...more
While traditionally a bid protest involves a losing offeror challenging the award of a contract to another offeror, occasionally winning offerors on a multiple award contract (MAC) have sought to challenge the government’s...more