Protest of RFP Cancellation

The Louisiana Center for the Public Interest (LCPI) protested the cancellation of a request for proposals for bi-regional advocacy service by the Administration on Aging, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). Upon receiving notice of the cancellation, LCPI inquired immediately about procedures for appealing the decision and requested copies of HEW evaluation documents. LCPI complained that these documents were not received until 3 weeks after notice of the cancellation. LCPI also protested that negotiations were held on a date when its attorney could not attend. It was noted by GAO that there is no right to counsel in negotiation of Government contracts and, in addition, the protest regarding the negotiation date was untimely filed. LCPI further alleged that during negotiations HEW may have placed reliance on the remarks of its Executive Director, who later resigned. GAO considered this objection timely filed, since LCPI could not have known the opinion held by HEW concerning the Executive Director's remarks until it had received the evaluation documents requested from HEW. Nevertheless, this part of the protest was denied because HEW could not be faulted for negotiating with an authorized spokesman of LCPI. Thus, GAO found LCPI's protest was untimely in part and without legal merit otherwise.