[Protest of Navy Contract Award Alleging Biased Evaluation]

A firm protested a Navy contract award under a request for proposals for technical services, alleging that: (1) the technical proposal evaluation was biased in favor of the awardee; (2) the awardee's proposed cost was unrealistic; and (3) the Navy's selection of the awardee's higher cost bid was not justified. The protester further requested that GAO conduct a "proper" evaluation of both its proposal and that of the awardee. GAO held that its function is not to reevaluate a contracting agency's technical evaluation, but rather to determine whether it had a reasonable basis. GAO found that: (1) there was no evidence to support allegations of bias on the part of the evaluator; (2) other evaluators had also given the awardee a perfect technical score; (3) since the protester had not presented any evidence of impropriety, there was no basis upon which to question the cost evaluation; (4) the solicitation provided that technical factors were twice as important as cost factors; and (5) the protester's proposal was not the lowest cost, technically acceptable offer. Accordingly, the protest was denied.