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GAO Blasts Faulty Past Performance Evaluation

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 06.24.08

In sustaining the protest in DRS C3 Systems, LLC, (Feb. 26, 2008, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/310825.pdf), GAO found that the agency broke nearly every conceivable rule in the past performance evaluation by disregarding the awardee's "extremely adverse" past performance, departing from the stated evaluation criteria, failing to weigh the relevance of available past performance data, and incorporating "various inaccuracies" in the evaluation report. In arriving at its decision, the GAO also highlighted the agency's evolving litigation positions and rejected the agency's "no prejudice" defense when GAO could not "determine that [the awardee's] proposal would remain technically superior overall."

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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....