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RAND Corp. tells Congress that Bid Protests are Not a Problem

Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.05.18

RAND Corp. recently submitted a report to Congress on the effects of Department of Defense bid protests, as required by the 2017 NDAA. Interestingly, RAND found:


  • Bid protests are not a significant impediment, as some in Congress have suggested. To the contrary, “bid protests are exceedingly uncommon for DoD procurements.” 
  • GAO’s 100-day deadline should stay. GAO already resolves 70% of protests within 60 days, and often needs the full 100 days for complex protests and numerous end of fiscal year protests. 
  • Task order protests are important. The higher effectiveness rate for task order protests indicates that such procurements may be more problematic and should be protestable.
  • A majority of protests are brought by small businesses. Congress should consider approaches to reduce and improve such protests. 
  • Debriefings matter. “Evasive or adversarial debriefings may lead to a bid protest in most cases.” 

RAND also recommended improving DoD recordkeeping to support future studies.



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Client Alert | 2 min read | 07.15.26

CMMC Phase II Suspension Requires Reconsideration of Such Requirements in Solicitations

As discussed in more detail here, the U.S. Department of War (DoW) recently issued a memorandum (Memo 26-P-1023, dated July 13, 2026) directing the immediate suspension of Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Phase II requirements (Level I and II self assessments are still permitted). Significantly, the memo directs that “all pending and future CMMC implementation milestones across DoW solicitations and contracts are held in abeyance until further notice.” Moreover, the DoW issued a memorandum on implementing these requirements (available here), directing agencies to issue amendments removing CMMC Level 2 and 3 requirements from active solicitations “as soon as practicable.” Contractors should monitor the government’s compliance with this requirement and should be prepared, if needed, to file a bid protest to protect their rights....

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