Protests
GAO and Court of Federal Claims bid protest decisions, and what they mean for bidders.
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Protests
Protecting Protest Rights When a Procurement Scandal Is Unfolding: The Diligent Pursuit Obligation
A series of recent GAO decisions establishes that contractors who suspect procurement misconduct cannot preserve their protest rights by passively monitoring events — they must file within the standard timeliness window from the point they knew or should have known of the alleged violation.
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Protests
GAO Rejects Protest Fishing Expedition, Confirms Protesters Must Plead With Evidence
In Warfighter Focused Logistics, B-423546, GAO dismissed a protest challenging a logistics award, holding that protesters must support their allegations with credible evidence — not mere speculation — before GAO will compel an agency to produce its evaluation record for examination.
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Protests
Federal Circuit Rules Contractors Need Only Show 'Arbitrary and Capricious' Standard to Challenge CICA Stay Overrides
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in Life Science Logistics v. United States, No. 24-1522, that challengers to CICA automatic stay overrides need only satisfy the arbitrary-and-capricious standard — not the traditional four-factor injunctive relief test — significantly lowering the bar for contractors seeking to reinstate protest stays.
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Protests
GAO Dismisses Entire Protest After Contractor Files Comments Minutes Past the 5:30 PM Deadline
GAO dismissed Think Tank, Inc.'s entire protest against the Department of Commerce without reaching the merits after the protester's counsel uploaded comments minutes after the 5:30 PM filing deadline due to a filename upload error and subsequent password issue — reaffirming that GAO's filing deadlines are absolute.
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Protests
GAO Sustains Protest After Navy Penalized Offeror for Using 'TBD' That the Solicitation Expressly Permitted
GAO sustained Solvere Technical Group's protest against the Naval Surface Warfare Center in B-423785, finding the agency downgraded proposals for using TBD designations for non-key personnel positions when the solicitation plainly permitted that approach — a textbook case of an agency applying requirements that don't appear in the solicitation.
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Protests
GAO Sustains Protest After DLA Redacted Administrative Record Down to 'Names and Overall Ratings'
GAO sustained Tiger Natural Gas Inc.'s protest against the Defense Logistics Agency in B-423744, ruling that DLA's extreme redaction of the protest administrative record — leaving only names and ratings visible — violated the protest system's integrity and could not be justified by a fishing-expedition concern when a protective order was already in place.
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Protests
GAO Sustains Protest After Army Corps Accepts Bid That Failed to Acknowledge Material Amendment
GAO sustained Ryba Marine Construction's protest against the Army Corps of Engineers in B-423796.2, ruling that the awardee's failure to acknowledge a material IFB amendment — regardless of the $21,000 cost impact — rendered its bid nonresponsive and required rejection.
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Protests
GAO Sustains Two Protests Against DIA for Assigning Weaknesses Based on Statements Contractors Never Made
GAO sustained protests by Amentum Technology and SOS International against the Defense Intelligence Agency in January 2026, finding DIA assigned a strength to GDIT for training it deemed inferior to the protesters' offerings and penalized SOSi for statements that did not appear anywhere in its proposal.
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Protests
GAO Denies Protest Against Army Corps Despite Agency Waiving Material Solicitation Requirements
GAO denied a bid protest against the Army Corps of Engineers in case B-423821, ruling that even if the agency waived two material solicitation requirements, the protester failed to show it suffered competitive prejudice — a required element that contractors frequently overlook.
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Protests
GAO Sustains Protest Against Army Corps for Giving Vendors One Hour to Respond to Solicitation Amendment
GAO sustained a bid protest on February 18 against the Army Corps of Engineers for issuing a solicitation amendment with a one-hour response deadline, finding the agency violated FAR requirements for reasonable vendor response time in a procurement for Navy installation appliances.
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Protests
GAO's FY2024 Bid Protest Annual Report: Insights and Implications for Contractors
GAO's FY2024 Bid Protest Annual Report recorded a 13% sustain rate, with 2,878 cases filed and the Department of Defense remaining the most-protested agency. The report highlights common grounds for relief and trends contractors should track.
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Protests
Army's $50B MAPS Professional Services Contract Faces Nine Pre-Award GAO Protests Over Evaluation Transparency
Nine firms filed GAO protests against the Army's Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services, citing unanswered industry questions and ambiguous small business evaluation criteria. Awards are now on hold until at least August.
