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Request For Clarification Amounts To Discussions

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 08.04.06

In University of Dayton Research Institute (June 15, 2006, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/2969466.pdf), the GAO found that an agency's request for vendors to clarify certain discrepancies in their proposed rate tables constituted discussions because the proposal discrepancies were so material that the agency could not conduct a price evaluation without the clarifications and the corrections resulted in significant changes to the proposed prices. As a consequence, GAO held that the agency was required to conduct meaningful discussions with all offerors in the competitive range, which it had not done with the protester.

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Client Alert | 2 min read | 12.19.25

GAO Cautions Agencies—Over-Redact at Your Own Peril

Bid protest practitioners in recent years have witnessed agencies’ increasing efforts to limit the production of documents and information in response to Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid protests—often will little pushback from GAO. This practice has underscored the notable difference in the scope of bid protest records before GAO versus the Court of Federal Claims. However, in Tiger Natural Gas, Inc., B-423744, Dec. 10, 2025, 2025 CPD ¶ __, GAO made clear that there are limits to the scope of redactions, and GAO will sustain a protest where there is insufficient evidence that the agency’s actions were reasonable....