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Strict Application Of Micro-Purchase Exception Sinks Award

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 04.15.10

In Rapiscan Sys., Inc. (Mar. 15, 2009), a case handled by C&M, GAO sustained a protest of the award of a purchase order under a Federal Supply Schedule ("FSS") solicitation when the awardee's FSS contract did not include one of the solicitation's required line items. Although the awardee priced the non-FSS item at $0, GAO concluded that the micro-purchase exception did not apply, because the vendor's quotation also stated that the non-FSS item's price (which exceeded the $3,000 micro-purchase threshold) was included in the price of an FSS item.

Insights

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  This decision, while nonprecedential, is in line with U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) precedent, which has long held that pre-award protests must be filed before the proposal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....