I have filed three agency level protests this year and not heard back from any agency after filing. No acknowledgment, no courtesy call — nothing. I used to tell clients that if they want to preserve their relationship with the agency this is a better way to do it. It can also be done at a much lower cost which helps keep my clients in business. I recommend it if there is an obvious protest issue.
For those of you who haven’t heard of an agency level protest, here is a quick read summary. Agency protests are authorized in FAR Part 33.103. Filing an agency protest can still result in a stay of award during the protest period. It is faster than a protest at GAO or the Court of Federal Claims. Agencies are required to resolve them within 35 days. The GAO takes 100 days. A protester can still file later at either the GAO or the Court of Federal Claims.
In my long career in representing federal government contractors, I have never had the experience of not hearing back from an agency after filing an agency protest. Here is the very important thing to know when you don’t hear back. The GAO has strict filing requirements that protests must be filed within 10 days of the time you knew or should have known about the adverse action. That is now changing my strategy. If I don’t hear back from an agency, as in radio silence, I need to file at GAO within 10 days.
The Centre attorneys and I have had a great string of wins this year at GAO. I am not hesitant to litigate there or the COFC but in this environment of cuts and layoffs, and as a federal contractor who has had to deal with our own DOGE contract terminations for convenience, I am very mindful of budgets. But I am now rethinking this strategy of trying an agency protest.
Has anyone else experienced this issue? Please share your thoughts and lessons learned in the LinkedIn comments after I post this https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbarakinosky/, or reach out to me directly at bkinosky@centrelawgroup.com. Your experience could help another contractor when it matters most.
Best,
Barbara
