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ARTICLE · 13 JUNE 2018

GAO Will Police 'Other Transaction Authority' Awards

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The U.S. Government Accountability Office's much-anticipated decision in Oracle America Inc. confirms that the GAO will not hesitate to review the details of an agency's use ...

United StatesGovernment, Public Sector
Ronald Lee
Ronald Lee
Stuart Turner
Stuart Turner
Michael Samuels
Michael Samuels
Nathaniel Castellano
Nathaniel Castellano
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The U.S. Government Accountability Office's much-anticipated decision in Oracle America Inc.1 confirms that the GAO will not hesitate to review the details of an agency's use of its Other Transaction Authority (OTA) in lieu of issuing a procurement contract. The GAO determined that the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) both: (1) failed to properly provide for a follow-on production contract in its initial "prototype OTA" instrument, and (2) issued its sole-source production order before the prototype was complete, in violation of the requirements of the statute that provides OTA.

The Oracle decision acts as a shot across the bow to agencies exploring OTA agreements as alternatives to traditional contracting. OTA is not new, but the recent advent of using OTA for follow-on production contracts, combined with increased government interest in using creative alternatives to traditional procurement procedures, has made OTA agreements particularly popular in

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