GAO Sustains Protest of VA’s Past Performance Evaluation—Agencies Must Use the Evaluation Criteria Present in the Solicitation
Article by: Tyson Marx, Partner An agency’s failure to follow the evaluation criteria present in a solicitation remains one of the most successful protest grounds at GAO. On July 10, 2026, GAO sustained the protest of Veterans Management Services, Inc. (VMSI) on the basis that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) failed to follow...
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Let Your Mentor-Protégé Agreement Lapse, Lose the Set-Aside: Lessons From A Difficult Court Decision
Article by: Ryan Bradel, Partner Most small business government contractors know the general rule cold: a company’s size for a small business set-aside is determined as of the date of its initial offer. But there are critical exceptions. The most impactful is the one for mentor-protégé joint ventures. Under a rule SBA crafted in...
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GAO Confirms Corrective Action Doesn’t Reset Viability of Recycled Bid Protest Arguments
Article by: Nicholas Hopkins, Associate GAO recently issued a stark reminder to bid protesters that denied protest grounds cannot be re-raised after corrective action. Even where GAO orders corrective action, the protester must immediately request reconsideration if it believes GAO erred by denying or failing to address a protest ground. It cannot wait until...
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GAO Sustains Protest Where Agency’s Rapid-Fire Amendments Left Offerors No Fair Opportunity to Compete
Article by: Rory Hatch, Associate GAO’s recent sustain, Effective Communication Strategies, LLC; Corps of Engineers, serves as a reminder that contracting officers have an affirmative obligation to give offerors a reasonable opportunity to respond to solicitation amendments, and that a flurry of same-day, weekend, and sub-hour deadlines does not satisfy that obligation. Protest Background...
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Bid Protesters Beware: Don’t Forget to Brief All the Injunctive Relief Factors
Article by: Nicholas Perry, Associate In a recent bid protest decision, Noblis MSD, LLC v. United States, No. 25-1637C (Mar. 19, 2026), the Court of Federal Claims handed protester Noblis a pyrrhic victory. Noblis’s protest concerned an approximately $100 million Department of the Navy contract award to Solute, Inc. for the provision of systems...
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GAO Sustains Protest Over CIA’s Faulty Cost Realism Evaluation
In a recent bid protest decision, Markon LLC, B-423767-.4, December 12, 2025, the Government Accountability Officer (GAO) delivered a pointed reminder about the limits of agency discretion in cost realism evaluations. In this case, which involved a solicitation for business operations, information technology engineering support, and business enterprise modernization services, the Central Intelligence Agency...
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