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GAO Rejects Cooperative Agreements Dodge

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 08.27.12

On August 15, 2012, GAO sustained a protest by several housing agencies challenging HUD's attempt to obtain services through cooperative agreements, finding that HUD improperly avoided the procurement laws and should have awarded a contract. GAO's ruling serves as a reminder that agencies cannot avoid CICA requirements by using cooperative agreements (or inter/intra-agency agreements, which have also received recent attention for possible abuse) to avoid the competitive procurement laws.

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Client Alert | 2 min read | 04.16.26

Federal Circuit Holds Challengers to CICA Stay Overrides Need Not Satisfy Four-Factor Injunctive Relief Test

In a significant decision for government contractors, on April 15, 2026, in Life Science Logistics, LLC v. United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that bid protesters challenging an agency’s override of an automatic stay of contract performance under the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) need not satisfy the demanding four-factor test traditionally required for preliminary injunctive relief.  In so doing, the Federal Circuit clarified that CICA stay override challenges need only demonstrate that the override decision was arbitrary and capricious—nothing more....