Senate Defense Bid Protest Provision Concerns Contractors

Jay Carey is quoted in a Federal Contracts Report article regarding contractor concerns sparked by the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a “loser-pays” provision in bid protests. “I think contractors should be quite concerned” with the Senate version of the NDAA as it now stands, says Carey. “Protests are a critical part of the oversight process.”

According to Carey, 45 percent of all protests result in some form of relief for protesters, meaning that in most cases, a contract error was prevented or rectified, helping to make the system fairer and more efficient. “That's fundamentally what protests do.”