Sec. 821. Government Accountability Office bid protest reforms
370 words·~2 min read·
/bill/114/s/2943/pcs/section-821·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Chapter 137 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: A contractor who files a protest described under paragraph
(2)with the Government Accountability Office on a contract with the Department of Defense shall pay to the Government Accountability Office costs incurred for processing a protest. A protest described under this paragraph is a protest— all of the elements of which are denied in an opinion issued by the Government Accountability Office; and filed by a party with revenues in excess of $100,000,000 during the previous year. Contractors who file a protest on a contract on which they are the incumbent contractor shall have all payments above incurred costs withheld on any bridge contracts or temporary contract extensions awarded to the contractor as a result of a delay in award resulting from the filing of such protest. All payments above incurred costs of a protesting incumbent contractor withheld pursuant to paragraph
(1)shall be released to the protesting incumbent contractor if— the solicitation that is the subject of the protest is cancelled and no subsequent request for proposal is released or planned for release; or if the Government Accountability Office issues an opinion that upholds any of the protest grounds filed under the protest. Except for the exceptions set forth in subparagraph (A), all payments above incurred costs of a protesting incumbent contractor withheld pursuant to paragraph
(1)shall be released to the contractor that was awarded the protested contract prior to the protest. Except for the exceptions set forth in subparagraph (A), if a protested contract for which payments above incurred costs are withheld under paragraph
(1)is not awarded to a contractor, the withheld payments shall be released to the Government Accountability Office and deposited into an account that can be used by the Office to offset costs associated with Government Accountability Office bid protests in which the Government Accountability Office issues an opinion in favor of a small business concern, either as a direct or third party beneficiary. . The table of sections for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2337 the following new item: 2338. Government Accountability Office bid protests. .