GAO Denies Government Request to Modify Recommendation
July 27, 2010
The government's request to modify a Government Accountability Office corrective action recommendation was denied because the government failed to demonstrate the recommendation was not reasonable. After sustaining a protest of the establishment of a blanket purchase agreement involving software and related services, the Comptroller General recommended the government implement corrective action and make a new best value decision (25 CGEN ¶113,049). The government contended the recommendation did not take into account the awardee's continued performance under the BPA's first call for services while the protest was under consideration. The government argued it would lose significant amounts of cost, time, and effort already expended because the services performed under the first call could not be salvaged and would have to be repeated if a new vendor were selected.
No Basis
The Comptroller General found no basis to alter its original conclusion. Even if the awardee were not reselected, it was not apparent the government would incur additional expense, because the protester's quoted price for the first call work was lower than the awardee's. In addition, this was the second GAO decision that found unequal treatment of vendors in the procurement, and the adverse effect on the integrity of the competitive procurement system that would result from allowing the awardee to continue to perform on the first call, without a reassessment of the best value decision, outweighed the potential costs to the government of implementing the recommendation. (Department of Justice --Modification of Recommendation, 25 CGEN ¶113,156)
Comptroller General decisions appear in this Report at 25 CGEN ¶113,156.