Protests Based on Impaired Objectivity Organizational Conflict of Interests (“OCI”) Continue to Find Success at GAO
In Solutions71, LLC: B-423671.2, GAO sustained the third impaired objectivity OCI protest within the last six months. GAO’s decision in Solutions71 joins Castro & Company, LLC: B- 423689 and DirectViz Solutions, LLC:B- 423366; B-423366.3; B-423366.4 in what has become an increasingly successful protest ground. What is an Impaired Objectivity OCI? An impaired objectivity OCI...
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Two CAS Moves in One Day: What Small Contractors Need to Know
On September 11, 2025, the Office of Management & Budget’s (“OMB”) Cost Accounting Standards Board, which is chaired by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (“OFPP”), dropped two important updates: A final rule that simplifies how revenue and leases are handled under CAS; and A proposed rule that would scale back or align four...
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Biggest FAR Overhaul in 40 Years
On August 15, 2025, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (“OFPP”) at the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) announced the most sweeping changes that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) has experienced in the preceding four decades. The OMB is seeking to minimize the hoops contractors must jump through to work with the federal...
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GAO Addresses Potential Bid Protest Fee-Shifting Provision in Report to Congress
The GAO recently issued a report to Congress on potential changes to its bid protest function (the report was required by Section 885 of the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act). In one section, GAO addressed potential options for implementing a “loser pays” mechanism for bid protests challenging Department of Defense (“DoD”) procurement actions....
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GAO Decision Reminds Protesters They Cannot Delay Filing Until “Perfect Knowledge” of Protest Grounds
A recent GAO protest decision, Wright Brothers Aero, Inc., B-423326.2, July 7, 2025, provides contractors with a helpful reminder of the risks posed by delaying a protest, even if the contractor believes that they do not “definitively” know of a basis for protest. GAO’s Bid Protest Regulations contain strict rules regarding timeliness, and disappointed...
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Bid Protests at the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Congress established the Government Accountability Office in 1921 to act as a source of objective, non-partisan information on government operations, most importantly, the executive branch. This authority extends to the review of federal government contracts—whether federally appropriated funds are being properly spent and whether procurements are being conducted fairly so as to bring the...
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