You may have thought that a small noncompliance in font size of the page number would be ignored in evaluating proposals.  Wrong.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) issued a request for quotations (“RFQ”) for program support to various USDA missions, including farm production and conservation.  But one of the offerors was eliminated from the competition in the initial step of the evaluation because its quotation failed to comply with the RFQ on font size, as explain

Readers of this blog understand that an ambiguity exists in a solicitation or a contract where there are two or more reasonable interpretations of the terms or specifications.  There are two types of possible ambiguities:  patent and latent.  A patent ambiguity exists where the solicitation or contract contains an obvious, gross or glaring error. The contractor is required to raise this ambiguity with the agency when it is discovered.  A latent ambiguity is more subtle, and

The Government Acountability Office (“GAO”) recently held that in a Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Part 8.4 procurement, an agency can reasonably engage in exchanges with only the “best suited” vendor, when the solicitation (an RFQ) indicated that such exchanges might occur.  A Square Group, LLC, B-421792.5, April 11, 2025.  A Square Group (“ASG”) protested the issuance of a task order issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Med

The Armed Services Board recently considered a contractor’s appeal that was submitted more than 90 days after the Contracting Officer’s final decision on the underlying claim.  The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.  Logistics and Rental Car SARL, ASBCA No. 63950, April 9, 2025. Logistics was awarded a contract in 2019 by the Marine Corps (“USMC”) for the rental of non-tactical vehicles at Camp Lemonnier, Dijbouti, Africa.  The USMC and Logistics executed a

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently denied a protest where a company failed to price in its proposal required Contract Line Items Numbers (“CLINs”), and the agency did not request clarifications.  GovTranz, LLC, B-423249. March 25, 2025.  The solicitation (a request for proposals, or “RFP”) was for ground wheelchair transportation services. The solicitation sought ground wheelchair transportation services for patients at a Veterans Affairs Meical Center in A

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) supported an agency decision and found a protester was ineligible for award where its...

The problem of improper use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in cases and pleadings has been a recurring theme over the past year or two....

Many government contract professionals think of “claims” as something that only contractors submit, but the Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”)...

In a Department of Commerce (“DOC”) procurement for technology services for a traffic coordination system, the non-selected contractor...

Ambiguity is an important concept in both a solicitation and in a contract.  There are two types of ambiguities—patent and latent.  Where...

A recent case at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (the “Board”) found the Air Force liable for a superior knowledge claim on...

The Government Accountability Office recently reminded us that the requirements in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) for Part 19...

The Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”) recently released a decision where it declined to dismiss (for lack of jurisdiction) a protest of a...

The Federal Circuit recently sent an appeal back to the Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”) because the lower court had dismissed the claim,...

You must be extremely careful with protected material obtained in a Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) protest.  BBGSRO, the...

There are literally hundreds (perhaps thousands) where the Government Accounting Office (“GAO”) has dismissed a protest because it was...

A recent decision by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) explained that an agency had unreasonably determined that the statutory...

In a recent protest sustained by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), the GAO concluded that once an initial offer has been...

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently considered a solicitation for a Federal Supply Service procurement that permitted...

The Department of Defense, Defense Information Systems Agency (“DISA”), sought telecommunications services that would be used by the U.S....