[Request for Reconsideration of Dismissal of Protest Concerning DLA IFB]

A firm requested reconsideration of a decision dismissing its protest of the inclusion of a clause in a Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) solicitation that allowed an exception to the preference for labor surplus area (LSA) which was prejudicial to it. GAO dismissed the protest as untimely because it concerned alleged improprieties apparent in the solicitation which should have been protested prior to bid opening. Bid protest regulations require that a request for reconsideration contain a detailed statement of the factual and legal grounds upon which a reversal or modification of the initial decision is warranted. GAO found that: (1) the protester did not show any error of law or fact which would warrant reversal of the original decision; (2) the exception to the LSA clause was a new ground of protest distinct from the original basis for protest; and (3) a protester may not introduce a new argument in a reconsideration request that it could have made in its original protest. Accordingly, the prior decision was affirmed.