Protest Concerning Army's Award of Contract for Publishing of Civilian Enterprise Newspaper

An individual protested the award of a contract by the Department of the Army for the publishing of a civilian enterprise newspaper. GAO considers protests of contract awards pursuant to its authority to settle appropriated fund accounts of the Government. Consequently, GAO generally considers protests of contract awards which involve the expenditure of appropriated funds. Under Army regulations, civilian enterprise publications are published by civilian publishers under contract with the Army at no cost to the Army. Although Army officers cooperate and work with the publisher, neither appropriated nor nonappropriated funds are paid to the publisher. Rather, publishers are responsible for funding civilian enterprise publications, normally through the sale of advertising. Since the award of the contract did not involve the direct expenditure of appropriated funds, GAO could not take legal exception to the award and, therefore, no useful purpose would be served by the review. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.