Protest Challenging Cancellation of Three Requests for Proposals by Prime Contractor

A prime contractor questioned GAO's jurisdictional authority and the timeliness of a protest by a company which challenged the contractor's cancellation of three requests for proposals. The prime contractor was conducting competitive procurement to develop a second source and, after proposals were received, the Government encouraged the contractor to consider an alternate proposal from a licensee of a subsystem contractor. The argument that this constitutes preprocurement action is without merit since the Government and the prime contractor were not determining minimum needs but were comparing alternative proposals for meeting those needs. GAO will consider protests by subcontractors where the active or direct participation of the Government in the selection of a subcontractor has the net effect of causing or controlling the rejection or selection of potential subcontractors, or of significantly limiting subcontractor sources. The protest was timely and GAO will consider it on merits in accordance with Bid Protest Procedures upon receipt of a responsive report from the prime contractor.