A-76 Mix And Match Faulted By GAO

In Career Quest (Aug. 2, 2004), GAO sustained a protest of the GSA's decision under OMB Circular A-76 that it was more economical to continue performance of services in-house at the National Customer Support Center, as the agency evaluated the in-house offeror's technical performance plan based on a higher level of staffing than the same offeror included in its cost of performance. Inconsistencies between in-house offerors' staffing levels for compliance with work requirements and those it uses for calculating the cost of performance remain a persistent problem in A-76 competitions, and this decision sends the message that GAO will be alert to such shell games.