Protests Against Awards to Ineligible Bidders Under Small Business Set-Asides

A firm objected to a small business set-aside award and requested advice as to further action to be taken with regard to a prior decision. Where the protester did not question the factual or legal soundness of the prior decision, that decision was affirmed. Although GAO lacked the facts necessary to warrant its reporting of the protester's, claim that the awardee under the prior decision deliberately misrepresented its small business size status, the protester may request the Department of Justice to consider the claim. In spite of the postaward filing of the second protest against the small business size status of an awardee under another procurement and the stated applicability of the Small Business Administration size determination for future procurements only, the agency advised that the contract would be terminated in consonance with the prior decision since the contracting officer failed to give the protester timely preaward notice of the apparently successful offer.