GAO highlights bid protest trends, rejected recommendations, in fiscal 2024 report

The Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) is one of two protest forums for government contract awards per 1984’s Competition in Contracting Act, along with the Court of Federal Claims (COFC). GAO annually summarizes its prior year’s protest activity, and the Bid Protest Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2024 is out with a notable agency refusal to implement a recommendation.

While GAO resolved 1,706 cases, sustaining only 16 percent of protests on their merits, the effectiveness rate—including voluntary corrective actions—remained steady at 52 percent. Of particular note:

Top reasons for sustaining protests: GAO cited unreasonable technical evaluations, flawed selection decisions, and improper cost or price evaluations as the most frequent grounds. Specific examples included failures in documenting tradeoff rationale and inadequately considering price realism.

State Department defiance: In Pernix Fed., LLC, GAO sustained a protest related to a construction contract under the Security Act. GAO found the agency’s solicitation requirements for SAM registration in conflict with regulations. Despite GAO's recommendation to amend the solicitation and reinstate the protester, the State Department declined to act, prompting GAO to recommend legislative intervention.

Hearing and sustain rates drop: Only 0.2% of cases required hearings, reflecting streamlined resolutions. The sustain rate decreased from 31% in FY23 to 16%, a possible indicator of improved agency practices or stricter GAO thresholds.

The Horizon uses AI to publish our GAO Protest Log.