A common occurrence in Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid-protest practice is for the procuring agency to announce it will take corrective action in response to a complaint against the award and the agency requests that GAO dismiss the protest as academic. The question that often arises in a followup protest after the dismissal is whether the agency’s corrective agency was a meaningful response in light of the protester’s earlier allegations of prejudicial error. When an agency fails to implement the promised corrective action, the agency’s action can be protested when it precludes the timely, economical resolution of the initial protest. The GAO considered such a followup protest in DirectViz Solutions, LLC, Comp. Gen. Dec. B-417565.3, 2019 CPD ¶ 372.

In BNL, Inc., B-409450, B-409450.3, 2014 CPD ¶ 138, 2014 WL 1818046, the protester in a procurement for management, acquisition, and financial support to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) argued that the agency improperly evaluated the proposal of Strategy and Management Services, Inc. (SAMS), one of three awardees.

Frequently, protesters will seek to supplement their complaints after the initial GAO protest submission. When protesters raise multiple rounds for complaint, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will be guided by its bid protest regulations on timeliness under 4 C.F.R. § 21.2. These regulations do not contemplate “[t]he piecemeal presentation or development of protest issues.” Curtis Center Ltd. Partnership—Reconsideration, Comp. Gen. Dec. B-257863.3, 95-1 CPD 147.

Bob Dylan’s 1964 hit song “The Times They Are a-Changin’” is called to mind upon reading the OFCCP’s final rule about sex discrimination. (The OFCCP is the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the agency within the U.S. Department of Labor that enforces various anti-discrimination policies imposed on government contractors.)

On April 22, 2016, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced proposed rule changes about award fees. The proposed changes are a result of the NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audit report, “NASA’s Use of Award Fee Contracts” (Report IG-14-003). The changes will be made in Parts 1816 and 1852 of Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).