The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (CICA) have established uniform procedures and policies to govern the process by which the executive agencies obtain their goods and services. The established standards ensure that the acquisition system is in check, such that high-quality services are delivered and on a timely basis. Additionally, the standards ensure that the government meets the public policy objectives and maintains the public's trust.
The federal law provides mechanisms for the contractors to protests in cases where the solicitations and awarding of contracts fail to comply with the federal law. According to Arena et al. (2018), a bid protest refers to a written objection to the government agency's conduct in acquiring services and supplies for its use. The government's conduct could be; a) a violation of the regulations in the way it awards the contracts, b) solicits offers for a particular contract, c) cancellation of contracts and, d) the way it cancels a solicitation (Carpenter & Schwartz, 2018). Therefore, the federal government works towards advancing fairness, transparency, and integrity in all their projects.
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Different forums sharing a variety of common features are authorized to listen to the bid protests. These forums include a) the U.S Court of Federal Claims (COFC), b) the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and c) the procuring agency (Arena et al., 2018)). The forums define the interested party similarly, which governs the person capable of filing a valid protest. Carpenter and Schwartz (2018) ascertain that the forums apply legal procedures and remedies differently. The congress uses the forums distinctions’ to establish a procurement system that is timely, efficient, fair, and transparent.
Many contract protests tend to be filed by GAO on average every year than with COFC. Many parties choose the GAO forum as it offers room for those disagreeing with the outcome of the bid protests to bring the claims before COFC, which is an aspect lacking in other forums (Carpenter &Schwartz, 2018). Additionally, the protests before GAO and the procuring agency tend to be resolved less expensively and faster, a case different in the challenges filed with COFC, which involves formal procedures and has specific resolution timetables.
A contractor filing a protest with GAO or the procuring agency obtains the automatic stay benefit, which hinders an agency from implementing or awarding a contract with a pending protest. Carpenter and Schwartz (2018) highlight that protests with COFC are expensive, time-consuming, as well as results from inconclusive and legally binding orders and decisions. Another factor causing GAO to have the highest number of protests is that COFC does not trigger the automatic stay (Carpenter & Schwartz, 2018). Therefore, the contractors ought to consider the differences between the various forums before filing a protest, whereby they often begin the process in the non-judicial platforms.
The contract protest is important to the government. Manuel and Schwartz (2016) ascertain that the protest mechanisms are necessary as they ensure that entities in business with the government get a place to air their complaints concerning the government's contracting processes and are relieved. Therefore, the protest mechanisms ensure that the citizens are not frustrated by their government. Additionally, a lack of protest mechanisms can be associated with the unwillingness of business entities to enter into business with the government, which results in a lack of competition, thus causing price increases.
The contract protest mechanisms are also associated with enhancing the accountability of the government agencies and procurement officials through the process of identifying misconduct and correcting mistakes. The protesting process ensures integrity in the procurement system (Manuel & Schwartz, 2016). Therefore, the contract protest process develops an effective procurement system, which is important in protecting the taxpayers' money.
References
Arena, M., Persons, B., Blickstein, I., Chenoweth, M., Lee, G., Luckey, D. & Schendt, A. (2018). Assessing Bid Protests of U.S. Department of Defense Procurements: Identifying Issues, Trends, and Drivers . Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2300/RR2356/RAND_RR2356.pdf
Carpenter, D. & Schwartz, M. (2018). Government Contract Bid Protest: Analysis of Legal Processes and Recent Development. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45080.pdf
Manuel, K. & Schwarts, M. (2016). GAO Bid Protests: An Overview of Time Frames and Procedures. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40228.pdf
