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"Rule of Two" For Small Business Set-Asides Extended to Award of Task and Delivery Orders

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 10.21.08

In Delex Systems, Inc. (Oct. 8, 2008, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/400403.pdf), GAO expanded the reach of FAR 19.502-2(b), which requires an agency to limit competition to small businesses when it concludes it has a reasonable expectation of receiving offers from at least two responsible small businesses and award can be made at a fair and reasonable price. GAO held that the so-called "Rule of Two" applies to task and delivery order competitions among multiple-award contract holders, opening up a new class of award decisions to the small business set-aside requirements and potential bid protests.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 07.23.26

Protester Beware: Recent GAO Decision Suggests Traditional “Reasonable Possibility” Prejudice Standard May Be Evolving

It is well established that “[c]ompetitive prejudice is an essential element of every viable protest.” Yet, for decades, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has tempered this requirement with two critical corollaries: protesters need only demonstrate a “reasonable possibility” that they were prejudiced by an agency’s actions, and GAO “will resolve doubts regarding prejudice in favor of the protester.” These principles have been consistent features of GAO’s bid protest jurisprudence for more than 30 years. See, e.g., United Int’l Eng'g, Inc., B-245448, Jan. 29, 1992, 71 CPD ¶ 177....