The Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) states that in a procurement by sealed bidding, “after bids are publicly opened, an award will be made…to that responsible bidder whose bid, conforming to the invitation for bids [“IFB”], will be most advantageous…considering only price and price related factors included in the invitation.” FAR 14.101(e). A bid shall be rejected, as stated in FAR 14.404-2, because it: • Fails to conform to the essential requirements of the [IFB] • F

It is rare to see an agency ignore a specific injunctive order of the Court of Federal Claims (“CFC”), and even rarer to see an enforcement action requested and enforcement granted in a government contracting matter. However, Gemini Tech Services v. United States et a l, No. 24-1494 (Fed. Cl. Feb. 5, 2026) is such a case. Indeed, Gemini is only one of the total of six reported enforcement actions filed at the CFC in the years 1961-Feb. 2026. Those cases are as follows: Gemi

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) denied a request for reconsideration of a decision dismissing a protest because the protester was not an interested party since there was an “intervening offer, i.e. another offeror in line to receive award if the protest was sustained.  GAO held that it would not reconsider the decision because the requesting party failed to show that the original protest decision contained either errors of fact or law or information not previousl

The Department of Interior, National Park Service (“NPS”) issued a sole source notification stating that it intended to issue a purchase order to renew software licenses for an existing human resources platform provided by Government Retirements and Benefits (“GRB”). Economic Systems, Inc. (“Economic Systems”) protested at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) stating that the agency’s decision to limit sources to GRB was unreasonable because it could offer a platform

The Navy issued a solicitation for a Blanket Purchase Agreement (“BPA”) for accepting and filling orders placed by the Navy for parts for maintenance, repair and operations of ship stores, including their operation, with the contractor’s own labor,. The solicitation stated that services/products can be ordered under this BPA,” and also stated that “This BPA does not obligate any funds [but can] be obligated by placement of calls under Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) S

US Pan American Solutions (“US Pan”) moved for reconsideration of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (“Board”) decision dated April 25, 2025 ( US Pan Am. Sols.,LLC, ASBCA No. 63957, 25-1 BCA ¶ 38,814) where the Board dismissed its appeal for lack of jurisdiction as untimely filed.  US Pan Am. Sols ., ASBCA 63957, August 18, 2025. The appeal was filed 91 days. US Pan contends that its appeal was filed 91 days after the final decision of the contracting officer, but t

Consider the following statements from the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) Warfighter Focused Logistics, Inc., B-43546 and B-423456.2, August 5, 2025 decision, with particular attention to the highlighted sentences (references are omitted). The GAO has now clarified its pleading standards as follows: [Protester, Warfighter Focused Logistics, or “WFL”] contends that the agency's evaluation of VMP's quotation was unreasonable. Specifically, the protester alleges VMP [

If you were a health care contractor providing emergency room health care services to a rural hospital, and your government contract ended, would you continue to provide those services despite the fact that the Contracting Officer refused to pay more than $8 million for your submitted and undisputed invoices over a period of 7 months?  Tribal Health, LLC (“Tribal”) did so at the Pine Ridge Indian Hospital in order to ensure continued emergency room services because it was the

Can the President (normally through the Office of Management and Budget—"OMB”) use a pocket rescission in order to withhold budget authority (funding) for government contracts and other government expenditures without Congressional consideration of a rescission proposal?  The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) says this procedure is unlawful, however, to date, the Supreme Court has allowed it to happen in the Trump administration, albeit only with an Emergency Ruling th

Once again, a manufacturer ran afoul of Part 13 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation by failing to understand how purchase orders operate in federal procurement.  Warfighter Defense, Inc., ASBCA No. 63924, July 16, 2025.  Warfighter failed to understand that its actions in failing to accept a purchase order (“PO”) from the Defense Logistics Agency (“DLA”), either in writing or by substantial performance, meant that there was no contract between the company and DLA, and no r

In a cost-plus fixed fee contract, where the Agency’s actual requirements are substantially lower than the Agency’s initial estimated hours, is the contractor entitled to its full fee? This issue was recently explored in an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (“Board”) case, Vectrus Sys. Corp ., ASBCA Nos. 62685, 62949. Vectrus contended that its fixed fee represents the agreed-upon profit, but the Agency alleged that it was only obligated to pay for actual contractor

This blog recently discussed the danger of using Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) improperly to write briefs and pleadings at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”).  See “ The Danger of Using Artificial Intelligence Improperly ,”| Oct 13, 2025, which demonstrated how the GAO was sanctioning attorneys who misused AI. Now comes the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals ("ASBCA" or “Board”) which criticized a brief that “hallucinated” fictitious cases and imposed sanctio

When a contractor brings an appeal of a claim to a Board of Contract Appeals (“Board”), it is the contractor’s responsibility of the Appellant to establish Board jurisdiction.  Board jurisdiction derives from 41 U.S.C. § 7105(e)(1)(A) which confers jurisdiction to decide an appeal from a decision of a contracting officer relative to a contract made by that department or agency.  Peace Ambition Const. Co., ASBCA Nos. 63938, 64024, July 10, 2025.  Peace Construction provides a

Appellant Chizoma Onyems is the sole owner of a limited liability company, CB Portable Toilet Rental and Service.  He is not a licensed attorney.  His company contracted with the government to provide services at Camp Lejeune.  After the contract was terminated for convenience, CB Portable (the company) submitted a certified claim, and then appealed it to the Board, where Mr. Onyems represented the company. The Board granted $16,000 in damages (plus interest) to CB Portable. 

GE Renewables US, LLC (“GE”) sought in its appeal a declaration that it had the right to pursue a price adjustment in a contract that contained an economic price adjustment (“EPA”) clause.  GE Renewables US, LLC,  ASBCA No. 63842, June 24, 2025.  The only significant consequence of such a declaration would be a price adjustment (not a change in contract performance or the avoidance of costs) and the Board deemed the claim a “monetary claim” which required a statement of a “su

In a bid protest issued in July 2025, a Court of Federal Claims Judge issued a scathing criticism of a Navy evaluation of offers for a mixed procurement to provide Egypt with a Nationwide Maritime Surveillance system via a foreign military sale.  Advanced Tech. Sys. Co. v. United States, (Fed. Cl. No. 25-515), July 16, 2025.  Judge Somers said that the Navy used “vague and conflicting past performance criteria [and failed] to provide any explanation for the award decision it

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released its annual bid protest report to the Congress for fiscal year on December 12, 2025 (B-158766). The GAO actually received 1803 protests in fiscal year (“FY”) 2025 but dismissed or immediately denied a substantial number of them, while actually considering and issuing decisions on 380 protests, known as “merit decisions.”  The GAO sustain rate increased slightly from 16 percent in FY 2025 to 14 percent in FY 2024. (Note: The

This blog has repeatedly explained that the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) will not sustain a bid protest even if the agency has violated a Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) requirement, unless there is competitive prejudice.  This means that a protester must demonstrate there was a significant error in the procurement process and prove that, without that error, they had a substantial chance of receiving the award. But what does this mean in the case where an a

When a contracting officer (“CO”) asks an existing contractor for a proposal for additional work and then withdraws that request, the request for proposal (“RFP”) is not a constructive change on the contract.  Walsh Turner Joint Venture II, ASBCA No. 63665, May 8, 2025.  The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals dismissed Walsh Turner’s claim because it failed to state a claim. Walsh Turner was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract by the Corps of Engineers for construction

When the government supplies a contractor (such as in a solicitation) with a defective design specification, the government is deemed to have breached an implied warranty that satisfactory contract performance will result from adhering to the specification.  This is known as the “Spearin Doctrine” and arose in the case of United States v. Spearin,  248 U.S. 132 (1918).   If the product or service produced by the contractor is not satisfactory, the government is in breach of t