Protest of National Credit Union Administration Contract Award

A firm protested the award of a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract issued by the National Credit Union Administration for a study regarding the agency's liquidation program. Essentially, the protester disagreed with the agency's determination to exclude its proposal from the competitive range. The agency explained that the protester's proposal did not demonstrate that it had as good an understanding of the problem as the awardee and the other offeror in the competitive range. In deciding protests against an agency's determination to exclude a proposal from the competitive range, GAO recognizes that such a determination is primarily a matter of administrative discretion, which it will not question when the agency has a reasonable basis. After considering the agency's evaluation of the protester's proposal, the agency's report on the protest, the protester's proposal, and carefully considering the protester's initial protest submission and its comments on the agency's report, GAO could find no basis to question the reasonableness of the agency's determination to exclude the protester's proposal from the competitive range. Thus, the protest was denied.