Government Contracts

Among all the various websites that government contractors have to monitor, which is the most important one? According to a recent GAO decision, it’s beta.SAM.gov because notice there creates an un-rebuttable presumption that a contractor received notice of agency action.  In this case, even though the agency had not complied…

Contractors should not assume that every procurement action by every agency is subject to the protest jurisdiction of the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Some agencies have special exemptions from the federal procurement rules and regulations. In addition, as several contractors recently learned, some agency procurement actions, especially those in the…

Under GAO’s Bid Protest Regulations, “[i]f the agency decides to take corrective action in response to a protest, GAO may recommend that the agency pay the protester the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing the protest, including attorneys’ fees and consultant and expert witness fees.” 4 C.F.R. § 21.8(e). GAO…

It is a contractor’s responsibility to submit a well-written proposal in response to a solicitation. As a recent GAO case illustrates, an agency will not find much value in an offeror’s broad, unspecific statements that do not allow the agency to make a meaningful review of that proposal. Nor can…

Keeping 8(a) procurements in the 8(a) program is procurement policy. Follow-on work must stay within the 8(a) program unless the Small Business Administration (SBA) concludes that the follow-on work is a “new requirement.” The term “new requirement” includes: “[t]he expansion or modification of an existing requirement … where the magnitude…

In the opinion of many government contractors, this should be a short article. Many bidders give no thought to using the agency-level protest process pursuant to FAR 33.103 and agency FAR Supplements. They see no value in wasting their time and money on an agency-level protest that, in effect, finds…

You would think that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would consider a protest claiming that the agency is not enforcing the Buy American Act (BAA). But, as shown in a recent GAO decision in Craft Bearing Company, Inc., B- 418685, 2020 WL 3429044 (June 22, 2020), GAO rarely considers…

It is not unusual for an agency to revise a solicitation when taking corrective action in response to a bid protest. A recent bid protest decision by GAO confirms that if an agency makes a material change to the solicitation’s terms, it must allow offerors to submit revised proposals in…

Starting in September, the Department of Defense will demand that bidders on DoD contracts meet higher cyber security requirements. And bidders will no longer be able to self-certify their compliance. Below are high-level questions guiding you on what you need to know. What are these higher cyber requirements?  The…