Federal Circuit Holds New Task Order Contract Awards Can Be Protested Without Full Procurement

In Coast Professional, Inc. v. U.S. (July 12, 2016), the Federal Circuit revived bid protests (including that of the lead appellant, represented by Crowell & Moring) challenging task order contract awards that had previously been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction by the CFC. The court held that, because the appellants were challenging the “proposed award or the award” of new task orders under GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts, which challenges fall squarely within the CFC’s statutory bid protest jurisdiction, it was irrelevant whether the new task orders, which were in the form of award-term extensions, shared some functional similarities to options or originated out of existing contracts rather than being the subject of entirely separate procurements.