[Army Request for Reconsideration of Decision Sustaining Protest of Rejection of Bid Modification]

The Army requested reconsideration of a decision which sustained a firm's protest against the Army's rejection of its bid modification. The decision also recommended terminating the relevant contracts and, depending on the Army's responsibility determination of the protester, awarding the contract to the protester. The Army challenged these recommendations, arguing that: (1) it would incur considerable contract termination costs; and (2) determining the protester's current responsibility for the purposes of awarding it the contract was improper. GAO held that: (1) since the protester's responsibility was not determined during the initial contracting period, such a defect could only be cured by using current information to determine its status; and (2) considering the high contract termination costs, termination was not in the government's best interest. Accordingly, the prior decision was affirmed, but the relevant contracts should not be disturbed.