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CFC Faults Agency for Circumventing Protests

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 07.20.11

In Cal. Ind. Facilities Resources, Inc. v. U.S., the Court of Federal Claims granted a protester’s request for declaratory relief regarding the illegality of the Army’s acquisition method used in a sole-source award of a contract for personnel shelter, even though the contract had been fully performed. Noting that “the action complained of is capable of repetition, yet might again evade review,” the CFC held that the agency’s practice of circumventing competitive procedures without proper justification, combined with what the court deemed an intentional effort to delay the publication of the sole-source notification until after the completion of performance, was unlawful.

 

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Client Alert | 4 min read | 10.30.26

Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right: GAO Sustains Protest Where Agency Tried to Fix PIA Violation with a Second PIA Violation

Recent sustain decisions by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Fluor Federal Solutions, LLC and Reliance Test & Technology send a clear message: when an agency tries to fix a Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) violation by committing a second one, the cure can be just as fatal as the disease. The cases involved the U.S. Air Force’s $1.8 billion procurement for O&M services at Elgin Air Force Base. During discussions, the Air Force inadvertently released a pricing overview slide with all offerors’ bottom-line evaluated costs to Reliance Test & Technology, which immediately notified the agency of the error. In response, the Air Force decided to level the playing field by providing the same information to all the other offerors in the procurement, stating, “[o]fferors may consider this disclosure in their [final proposal revision].”...