Rejection of Offer

A firm protested the decision of a military contracting agency that its initial protest was untimely filed. The firmed contended that its protest was timely, as the basis for protest was not learned until it analyzed the reasons given for the rejection of the firm's offer, and that its subsequent protest to GAO, filed within 10 working days after it learned that its protest was dismissed, was also timely. The contracting agency held that the protester learned the basis for the protest during a requested debriefing, and that the last date the protest could have been timely filed was on November 9. As the protest was not mailed until November 9 and received later, the contracting agency considered it untimely. GAO held that since the firm filed its protest to GAO within 10 days of formal notification that its initial protest was dismissed, the question whether its protest with GAO was timely depended on whether its initial protest to the contracting agency was timely. GAO did not agree with the firm's argument that it needed time to analyze the rejection of its initial offer and time to obtain additional information, as it was given grounds for the protest at the requested debriefing. This was not considered a valid basis for extending the time for filing the protest. Therefore, the initial protest to the contracting agency was untimely. Accordingly, the protest to GAO was held untimely and was dismissed.