Government Contracts Client Alert - May 2005

The Government Accountability Office issued a final rule effective April 14, 2005, allowing agency tender officials ("ATO") to protest certain A-76 procurement decisions on behalf of the agency. In the final rule, the GAO amended its Bid Protest Regulations to revise the definition of an interested party to permit a protest to be filed by an ATO in public-private competitions under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76. GAO also revised the definition of an intervenor to permit an ATO and an employee representative to intervene in these protests. See 70 Fed. Reg. 19679 (2005).

The competitions affected by this rule are public-private competitions conducted under OMB Circular A-76 regarding an activity or function of a Federal agency performed by more than 65 full-time equivalent employees of the Federal agency.