Flawed Discussions Nixes Award

In KPMG LLP (May 21, 2012), GAO sustained a challenge to CIA's conduct of discussions, finding the agency misleadingly informed KPMG that proposals should include resumes for all proposed personnel, yet the awardee proposed – and CIA accepted – only representative resumes, which allowed the awardee to offer a lower cost. GAO also found CIA's cost realism evaluation inadequate, stressing that CIA's evaluation documentation reflected "no meaningful consideration" of whether cost reductions associated with the awardee’s technical approach would actually occur.