Air Force cannot fix pricing leak by leaking it to everyone, GAO says
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By
Nick Wakeman
Sharing leaked pricing with all bidders compounded a Procurement Integrity Act violation rather than curing it.
The Government Accountability Office is sending a clear message that every parent tells their child – two wrongs cannot and will not make a right.
In this case, the Air Force inadvertently disclosed pricing information to one bidder for the $1.9 billion Eglin Operations and Maintenance Services II contract. EOMS II covers research, development, testing and training support work at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida.
To make up for that mistake, the Air Force decided to release the information to all the bidders to even the playing field. The Strategic Test Solutions joint venture won the contract.
Fluor Corp. filed notice that it was going to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, but the Air Force agreed to take corrective action and assess the impact the disclosure had on the competition.
The Air Force said that while the disclosure of the pricing information was a violation of the Procurement Integrity Act, it did not compromise the integrity of the competition. The Air Force reaffirmed the award to STS.
That led both Fluor and Reliance Test & Technology to file protests in July. Part of their argument was that you can’t cure a violation of the Procurement Integrity Act with a second violation of the Procurement Integrity Act.
GAO agreed and sustained the protests on Tuesday. GAO has told the Air Force to reconsider the impact of the pricing information disclosure and implement measures to mitigate the disclosure that would not compromise the competition.
At the same time, GAO denied Fluor and Reliance’s challenges to how the Air Force evaluated their proposals and the best value trade-off.