Government Contracts Legal Forum

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s 2023 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series. All through 2023, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice will keep you up to date with a summary of the most notable bid protest sustain decision each month. B‑421740, B-421740.2, In Guidehouse, Inc. , View the full article

Sustainability 52

Sustainability Bidding Evaluation Consulting 52

SmallGovCon

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

May 23, 2023). The post COFC: Lapsed SAM Registration During Proposal Evaluations Makes Offeror Ineligible for Award first appeared on SmallGovCon - Government Contracts Law Blog. The type of failure to comply may vary, but a common form of non-compliance, and the one subject to this protest, is the failure to register in SAM.

Evaluation 54

Evaluation Bidding Negotiation Government Contracts 54

GovCon & Trade

JANUARY 22, 2024

The Procurement at Issue On February 10, 2023, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued an RFP for the procurement of a geostationary extended observations (GeoXO) sounder (GXS) instrument for the weather satellite program. Generally, agencies are afforded broad discretion when evaluating whether an OCI exists.

Bidding 147

Bidding Procurement Evaluation Influencing 147

Government Contracts

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

Government Accountability Office that a $1 billion contract for services supporting the Office of Refugee Resettlement's program for unaccompanied children was awarded based on a flawed evaluation, making it one of Law360's 2023 Government Contracts Practice Groups of the Year. Hogan Lovells convinced the U.S.

Government Contracts 52

Government Contracts Government Government Contract 52

FedInsider

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 12:00PM – 5:00PM EDT | 3 CPE | Washington DC Cybersecurity has always contended with evolving threats. Carahsoft is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education of the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.

Media 52

Media Leadership Evaluation Management 52

GovCon & Trade

DECEMBER 5, 2023

On November 21, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest, arguing that the terms of a solicitation were biased and that the awardee failed to comply with a mandatory solicitation requirement. It is insufficient to show that an agency made an error in its evaluation process.

Bidding 147

Bidding Evaluation Consulting Import 147

FedScoop

APRIL 9, 2024

As the IRS’s Direct File pilot approaches the end of its 2024 runway, a new watchdog report finds that the tax agency’s cost estimates for the program were incomplete and would need “a comprehensive accounting” ahead of a potential takeoff in 2025.

Accountability 99

Accountability Price Electronics Data 99

Kluwer Arbitration

JANUARY 16, 2024

18/14721, 10 January 2023 Nataliya Barysheva and Valentine Chessa, MGC Arbitration, ITA Reporters for France In the Moldova v. Société Stileks Scientific and Production Firm LLC, intervenante volontaire à titre principal pour la Société Komstroy, Court of Appeal of Paris, RG No. Alstom Transport et Société Alstom Network UK Ltd v.

Corruption 52

Corruption Insurance IT Contract 52

GovCon & Trade

DECEMBER 5, 2023

On November 21, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest, arguing that the terms of a solicitation were biased and that the awardee failed to comply with a mandatory solicitation requirement. It is insufficient to show that an agency made an error in its evaluation process.

Bidding 130

Bidding Evaluation Consulting Import 130

American City & Country

AUGUST 16, 2024

Between 2019 and 2023, there was a 40% increase in the number of job openings for police officers. The goal: to bring accountability and consistency to the performance management process, boosting morale and improving retention over the long term. At the same time, the number of applications per job decreased by 39%.

Management 52

Management Evaluation Efficiency Collaboration 52

Public Contracting Institute

MARCH 20, 2024

In a recent solicitation by the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) for a ten year, indefinite delivery, indefinite contract for supply chain modernization services, IBM protested that the evaluation criteria assessing offerors’ financial liquidity and solvency are unduly restrictive of competition. International Business Machines Corp.,

Evaluation 52

Evaluation Supply Chain Consulting Government Contracts 52

FedScoop

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

The AI Research, Innovation and Accountability Act of 2023 , introduced Wednesday by Sens. Companies deploying “critical-impact” AI would have to perform risk assessments consistent with NIST’s existing AI Risk Management Framework, and these evaluations would then have to be submitted to the Commerce Department.

Transportation 99

Transportation Transportation Innovation Risk Management 99

AWS Public Sector

AUGUST 6, 2024

This targeted approach offers clearer accountability, enhanced transparency, simplified risk assessment, and focused testing procedures. Evaluate models thoroughly on safety characteristics such as prompt stereotyping (encoded biases for gender, socioeconomic status, etc), factual knowledge, and toxicity.

Government 66

Government Government Ethics Transparency 66

Public Contracting Institute

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently considered an award where the awardee had performed part of a past performance reference and agreed with the agency that it demonstrated the awardee’s capability. LPE Strategy, LLC, Be-427723.2,3, October 16, 2023 (considering a partially performed contract for past performance).

Contract 52

Contract Price Evaluation Government Contracts 52

Government Contracts & Investigations

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

In a previous article , we analyzed what made protests successful at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) in Fiscal Year 2023 (“FY23”). United States, the Court found the agency’s decision to follow GAO’s recommendation to evaluate the protester’s proposal as though its key personnel was unavailable was irrational. [1]

Price 52

Price E-procurement Bidder Evaluation 52

The Procurement ClassRoom

JUNE 22, 2024

Understanding the Responsibility According to the “Guide to Contract Management Body of Knowledge (CMBOK),” 7th edition, 2023, “ Contract administration encompasses the duties and tasks required to administer a contract from award to closeout.”

Contract Administration 59

Contract Administration Contract Tender Procurement 59

FedInsider

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Wednesday, October 11, 2023 | 2:00PM EDT | 1 Hour | Training Certificate Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly useful in applications throughout the federal government. He has been in numerous leadership roles in the private sector for over 25 years, spanning accounting, finance, technology & operations management spheres.

Accountability 142

Accountability Leadership Consulting Collaboration 142

Public Contracting Institute

JUNE 12, 2024

28, 2023 , the protester, Armstrong, (who was the low offeror) failed to write an adequate proposal that included all required information. Finally, the solicitation stated that “Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details, in a concise manner, to permit complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal. B-422123, Dec.

Evaluation 52

Evaluation Price Government Contracts Import 52

Federal News Network

JULY 10, 2024

So ASG got this award in 2023. So some of those are things that can be mitigated, usually impaired objectivity, which means basically, that you’re evaluating your own work from another contract. Tom Temin Even if they could say, well, this subcontractor will continue to evaluate this data. Tom Temin All right.

Bidder 102

Bidder Contract Evaluation Data 102

Government Contracts & Investigations

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

6] DCAA is authorized to examine contractor records related to proposals, discussions, pricing, and performance to evaluate the accuracy, completeness, and currency of cost or pricing data. [7] and evaluate significant variances for potential defective pricing. [48] and evaluate significant variances for potential defective pricing. [48]

Negotiation 98

Negotiation Price Government Contracts IT 98

FedScoop

JUNE 28, 2024

There is a draft version of the guidance, according to Michelle Sager, managing director of the Government Accountability Office’s strategic issues team, but the GAO has not seen it. The GAO isn’t the only federal entity waiting on the guidance — a September 2023 letter from Sen. 28, 2023, but the senator never received a response. “At

IT 93

IT Data Transparency Inventory 93

Government Contracts & Investigations

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

In January 2024, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published 31 bid protest decisions, two of which resulted in decisions sustaining the protesters’ challenges. Consequently, the protester first filed an agency level protest challenging the evaluation, which was denied, and then filed a protest with the GAO.

Bidding 52

Bidding Evaluation Sustainability E-procurement 52

GovLoop

OCTOBER 10, 2023

In 2023 so far, at least 27 states and territories have pursued more than 80 bills related to AI, including legislation to study, restrict or prohibit its use. New York Takes on Bias in Hiring AI New York City is being recognized as a “ modest pioneer in AI regulation ” thanks to a city law that took effect in July 2023.

Inventory 52

Inventory Ethics Transparency Data 52

Federal Construction Contracting

JUNE 5, 2023

The acquisition evaluation was to be carried out in multiple phases, the first of which involved offerors submitting a self-scoring sheet with points based on the offeror’s representations concerning its experience and other capabilities. Per the solicitation, “[o]nly the highest rated offerors will advance to phase 2 of the evaluation.”

Bidding 52

Bidding Evaluation Accountability Government Contracts 52

Public Contracting Institute

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

Strativia LLC, B-421511 et al, June 14, 2023. Strativia protested that Agriculture unreasonably and separately evaluation offers under technical capability and past performance factors. (SNAP was previously known as the “Food Stamps” program).

Project Management 52

Project Management Retail Government Contracts Contract Administration 52

Public Contracting Institute

APRIL 30, 2024

In a recent Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) protest, no clarifications were held (as protested), and GAO agreed that none were needed, based on the FAR requirements. Enterprise Technology Sols, B-422088, Dec. For other helpful suggestions on government contracting, visit: Richard D.

Government Contracts 52

Government Contracts Evaluation Consulting Contract 52

AWS Public Sector

APRIL 15, 2024

Aether has a DynamoDB first policy for databases, evaluating if DynamoDB is viable and using Aurora for use cases that require a relational database. Improvements will support technical transfer from PNNL AWS accounts to sponsor-owned accounts when required.

Risk Management 113

Risk Management Management End to End Data 113

Government Contracts & Investigations

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

The question disappointed healthcare contractors should ask is whether the agency acted unreasonably in its evaluation and selection of the awardee. If the answer is “yes”—or even “maybe”—healthcare companies may file a bid protest at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) or the U.S. B-421325, 2023 CPD ¶ 74 (Mar.

Government 52

Government Government Contract Bidding 52

Public Contracting Institute

DECEMBER 6, 2023

In Better Direct, LLC, B-419893.27, July 5, 2023, an offeror’s proposal was eliminated from consideration because it included only an incomplete attachment that was required by the solicitation. Better responded to a solicitation from the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) for information technology hardware and software.

Price 52

Price Quantity Evaluation Procurement 52

AWS Public Sector

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

However, as the technological landscape rapidly evolves, organizations without CISOs are scrambling to level up their technological aptitude, evaluate their existing cybersecurity infrastructure, and install the necessary safeguards to protect their customers and users from potentially devastating impacts.

Innovation 68

Innovation Data Education Evaluation 68

The Coalition for Government Procurement

MAY 16, 2024

LACKEY ; Mayer Brown On April 1, 2024, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a bid protest by TLS Joint Venture, LLC because the awardee’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) lapsed before the government awarded the contract. 650 (2023). Authored by EVAN C. WILLIAMS , JASON C. United States , 165 Fed.

Price 52

Price E-procurement Contract Data 52

Public Contracting Institute

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

In Better Direct, LLC, B-419893.27, July 5, 2023, an offeror’s proposal was eliminated from consideration because it included only an incomplete attachment that was required by the solicitation. Better submitted an incomplete Attachment 9, because it did not include the salient characteristics from Attachment 8 on its Attachment 9 crosswalk.

Price 52

Price Quantity Import Evaluation 52

How to Crack a Nut

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

The UK Government hosted an AI Safety Summit on 1-2 November 2023. There seemed to be some recognition of the need for more State intervention through regulation, for more regulatory control of standard-setting, and for more attention to be paid to testing and evaluation in the procurement context.

Procurement 78

Procurement Evaluation Participation Collaboration 78

FedInsider

OCTOBER 24, 2023

For more information regarding concern and/or program cancellation policies please contact: Certs@FedInsiderNews.com * To receive CPE credit you must arrive on time, fill out and submit your evaluation to registration as you leave. State boards of accountancy have final authority in the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit.

Government 115

Government Government Supply Chain Accountability 115

GovLoop

OCTOBER 9, 2023

The different stages —initiating, planning, executing, evaluating and closing — are all going to take a certain amount of time and have their own substages and steps forward (and sometimes back.) Outside vendors may be involved, and you’ll have to account for their processes. Part of innovation is just trying new things,” said Woody.

Innovation 98

Innovation Capacity Evaluation Management 98

FedScoop

APRIL 15, 2024

We’re very concerned about, again, to what extent DHS is really able to provide accountability and oversight over ICE and whether ICE’s words or actions can be trusted,” said Julie Mao, co-founder and deputy director of Just Futures Law, a legal organization that focuses on immigrant rights.

Data 136

Data Impact Assessment Purchasing Electronics 136

SmallGovCon

APRIL 4, 2024

GAO first analyzed FAR 52.204-7 and found that the text of the FAR provision requires offerors to maintain SAM registration throughout the evaluation period (i.e., 650 (2023) , that FAR 52.204-7 “requires offerors to maintain their SAM registrations without lapses during the solicitation period” (which we blogged about here ).

Bidding 58

Bidding Evaluation Government Contracts Procurement 58