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Request For Clarification Amounts To Discussions

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 08.04.06

In University of Dayton Research Institute (June 15, 2006, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/2969466.pdf), the GAO found that an agency's request for vendors to clarify certain discrepancies in their proposed rate tables constituted discussions because the proposal discrepancies were so material that the agency could not conduct a price evaluation without the clarifications and the corrections resulted in significant changes to the proposed prices. As a consequence, GAO held that the agency was required to conduct meaningful discussions with all offerors in the competitive range, which it had not done with the protester.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 07.10.26

Federal Circuit Clarifies Application of Blue & Gold: Proposal Submission Deadline, Not Award, is the Operative Time for Filing

In Utech, Inc. v. United States, No. 24-1586 (Fed. Cir. June 24, 2026), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit clarified that in most cases, a pre-award protest must be filed before the proposal submission deadline to avoid the Blue & Gold waiver rule.  This decision, while nonprecedential, is in line with U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) precedent, which has long held that pre-award protests must be filed before the proposal submission deadline....