Vendors More Motivated to Protest to GAO, 2018 Numbers Show Why

Government Contracts Partner Eric Crusius spoke with the Federal News Network on the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) latest annual report on the number of bid protests in the last fiscal year. The report states that there was a less than one percent increase in the number of complaints in the past fiscal year, but some concerning trends have come up in the report. One such trend comes from the fact that companies are more inclined to submit protests despite the GAO's requirement of a $350 filing fee. Mr. Crusius also found that companies are sustaining to the full 100 days more than last year.

“When contractors see that a protest will have a 50 percent chance of receiving some kind of relief, they are encouraged their claims will receive a fair hearing,” Mr. Crusius said. “It also shows how necessary the protest system is. Federal contracting needs protests to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent correctly and at nearly 50 percent of the time when a protest is filed, the agency could have done something better.”

READ: Vendors More Motivated to Protest to GAO, 2018 Numbers Show Why