Yes, you can challenge corrective action through a protest at the GAO. NavQSys, LLC, B-417028.3, March 27, 2019.
Although corrective action is within the discretion of the contracting agency and GAO will not object to specific corrective action provided it is an appropriate remedy, GAO will sustain a protest if the agency's decision is inconsistent with the solicitation or is otherwise unreasonable.
Importantly, the agency must document its decision and preserve the materials upon which it is based so that GAO may review the action.
In this case, the agency determined it would terminate the awarded contract for its convenience and make the award to a competitor. When the contractor to which the contract originally had been awarded protested, GAO examined the record to see what justified the agency's decision. As it turned out, there was nothing in the record to show the agency's decision to terminate the award was justified. The agency failed to provide a clear explanation of its action.
The case stands for the proposition that GAO will sustain a protest where the record fails to provide GAO with an opportunity to review in a meaningful way whether the agency's decision was reasonable.
Of course, a protester must show prejudice in order to prevail. On this point, GAO resolved any doubt in favor of the protester since a reasonable possibility of prejudice is a sufficient basis for sustaining a protest.
Unfortunately, the remedy GAO provided was hardly a victory for the protester. GAO's recommendation to the agency was that it document the basis for its decision to reject the proposal submitted by the protester. We see a follow up protest coming.
bill@spriggsconsultingservices.com
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