[Protest of Navy Contract Award for Procurement of Mobile Facility Vans]

A firm protested a Navy contract award for mobile facility vans. GAO had found untimely an earlier protest that the Navy's amended solicitation unduly restricted competition by restricting a portion of the solicitation to offerers with vans that had previously passed first-article testing. The protester later contended in two separate protests that: (1) the Navy awarded the contract to a higher bidder; (2) the awardee was not an eligible source under the solicitation specifications; (3) the Navy improperly awarded a portion of the contract separately; and (4) the Navy permitted the awardee to perform the contract in violation of contracting provisions. GAO noted that: (1) the protester filed a civil action seeking injunctive relief in the United States District Court; and (2) the court order stated that the court and GAO would simultaneously consider the case. The court found that: (1) the Navy properly restricted award of the contract; (2) the Navy illegally awarded part of the contract to the awardee; (3) the protester was an ineligible bidder since it had not passed first article test requirements; and (4) the Navy should have stayed the performance of the awardee's contract while the protest was pending before the court. GAO held that, since the court's resolution of the issues in the case was binding, it would not further consider the protests. Accordingly, the protests were dismissed.