In a recent bid protest decision, The DaVinci Company LLC v. United States, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims reaffirmed the enduring authority of the Trade Agreements Act (TAA) in federal procurements. At the center of the case was a straightforward but critical question: When the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) waives domestic
In a recent decision, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) clarified its minimum pleading standard for bid protests. The decision was a bit unusual because, unlike the courts, the GAO rarely uses published decisions to address procedural issues. Nevertheless, the pleading standard described in the decision, which was prompted by a Congressional reporting mandate, provides
In a recent decision highlighting the critical importance of timely proposal submissions in federal procurements, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied a protest by challenging the Navy’s rejection of the protester’s late-submitted proposal under a SeaPort Next Generation (SeaPort-NxG) task order competition. This case, La Playa, Inc. of Virginia – d/b/a LPI Technical Services
For government contractors doing business in Missouri, understanding the state’s bid protest process is essential. When a contractor believes that a contract award was improper or unfair, the state of Missouri allows for a formal protest — but only under strict rules and deadlines.
Below is a summary of Missouri’s bid protest process, including procedural
Contractors pursuing work with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) must be aware that the Postal Service operates under a unique set of rules. Unlike most federal agencies, the USPS is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for bid protests. Instead, protests are governed by Section 3.6 of the USPS Purchasing
As the federal government continues to modernize procurement processes and embrace emerging technologies, contractors are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) tools to streamline their responses to solicitations. From drafting technical proposals to analyzing past performance data, AI offers considerable potential to improve efficiency, accuracy, and competitiveness. However, as with any transformative tool, the use
One of the most powerful but often misunderstood tools available to government contractors is the pre-award protest. Unlike post-award protests, which generally challenge the outcome of a procurement, pre-award protests generally focus on the terms of the solicitation itself and/or the ground rules of the competition. When used strategically, a pre-award protest can help level
In New Mexico, vendors who compete for public contracts have legal recourse if they believe that a government solicitation or contract award was improper. The New Mexico Procurement Code provides a formal bid protest process that allows “aggrieved” bidders or offerors to challenge procurement decisions made by state agencies or local public bodies. This post
Organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) continue to be a critical compliance risk in the federal contracting landscape. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) mandates that contracting officers “avoid, neutralize, or mitigate” OCIs to ensure that government decisions are made objectively and without improper influence. For contractors — especially those engaged in professional services, systems engineering, or
The state of Hawaii provides a detailed statutory framework for protesting state procurements to ensure fairness, accountability, and transparency in the government contracting process. This article outlines the essential protest procedures under Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 103D, including initial protest requirements, administrative hearings, and judicial review.
Under HRS