Request for Reconsideration

A firm requested reconsideration of a GAO decision in which GAO dismissed the firm's protest against the refusal by an agency to allow it to bid on a contract. The protester had sought cancellation of the contract which was awarded on a sole-source basis. The protest was dismissed since it was not timely filed under bid protest procedures. The protester contended that GAO should consider the matter under the exception to the timeliness rules because the awardee allegedly improperly pressured the foreign buyer into insisting on a sole-source award. Defense Acquisition Regulations permit a foreign military sales customer to request that a defense article be obtained from a particular source. The protester also suggested that GAO should have secured a report from the contracting agency on the protest's merits before declining to consider them. The exception to the timeliness rules contemplates a protest which involves a procurement principle of widespread interest which affects a broad class of procurements. The issue of whether a particular purchase should have been made by competitive procurement rather than through a sole-source award is not of sufficient interest to invoke the exception, and the protest did not affect a broad class of procurements. It would have served no useful purpose to delay disposition of this matter for the receipt of a report from the contracting agency. Accordingly, the decision was affirmed.