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A Day Early Is Too Late

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 09.29.04

In Guam Shipyard [September 16, 2004], GAO held that a protest of the terms of an RFQ was untimely when it was transmitted to GAO the day before quotes were due, but that day was a federal holiday. GAO acknowledged that the protester had sent the protest to GAO on July 5 by both facsimile and e-mail, and that GAO had received both on that day; however, because documents are considered filed only on days when GAO is open for business, the protest was not deemed filed until 8:30 am on July 6 -- the same day, but several hours after, quotes were due in Japan.

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  This decision, while nonprecedential, is in line with U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) precedent, which has long held that pre-award protests must be filed before the proposal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