The Government Accountability Office has recently rejected protests against two multibillion-dollar contracts at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state – and that’s not unusual.
During fiscal 2019, the government watchdog sustained only 13% of the 2,071 bid protests resolved during the 12-month period, according to a November GAO report to Congress.
In cases in which the challenger prevailed, the most common reasons were unreasonable technical evaluations by the contracting federal agency, inadequate documentation to support the decision, or a flawed selection decision, GAO General Counsel Thomas Armstrong stated in the annual report submitted under the 1984 Competition in Contracting Act.
The Government Accountability Office said it decided all bid protests during its standard 100-day timeline during fiscal 2019, which ended on Sept. 30 of last year. The 13% rate for successful challenges was down slightly from 15% in fiscal 2018.
On April 22, the GAO rejected a protest brought by a Huntington Ingalls Industries-led venture against DOE’s December award of a potential 10-year, $4.8 billion Hanford support services contract to a joint venture comprised of Leidos, Centerra, and Parsons. On April 30, the watchdog rejected a protest filed by a Bechtel-led venture against the December award of the potential 10-year, $10 billion Hanford Central Plateau Cleanup award made to a team comprised of Amentum, Fluor, and Atkins.
Entities that lose at the GAO can still pursue their challenge before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
