Imminent Qualification As Source Must Be Considered By Agency
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 01.17.07
In Barnes Aerospace Group (Dec. 26, 2006, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/298864.pdf), GAO sustained a challenge to the Air Force's sole-source award for the repair of certain "aviation critical safety item" aircraft parts to the purportedly lone qualified source. GAO found that (1) the Air Force improperly proceeded on the basis of a sole-source justification (prepared even before the pre-solicitation notice was issued) that did not consider the protester's potentially imminent qualification as a second approved source, and (2) the Air Force engaged in unequal treatment by ignoring the awardee's own failure to requalify as an approved source.
Insights
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.
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2025 GAO Bid Protest Annual Report: Where Have All the Protests Gone?
