Lost in the recent noise and fighting around DEI and fraud in the SBA 8(a) program is a simpler question. Should the federal government keep one of the few procurement mechanisms that actually allows buyers and small businesses to talk to each other like adults and get deals done?
Incumbent protestor lost a proposal to a lower bidder, though both had good technical factor ratings. Agency assigned 2 strengths but felt that wasn't enough to overcome the price factor. Protestor claimed that the agency should have given the proposal 40 more strengths. Agency disagreed, GAO said that decision was within agency's discretion. Other protest grounds included Unequal Treatment, Service Contract Act noncompliance, and failure to conduct a responsibility determination. But on each front, GAO said allegations weren't supported and agency's record was sufficient. Protest denied.
GAO: Strategic Resources, Inc., B-423597.2,B-423597.3 (Jan 14, 2026)
Air Force's cost-realism analysis showed that ~20% of a proposal's unburdened hourly labor rates were unrealistic based on ERI and Salary.com benchmarks. Protestor argued that agency's analysis was flawed and should have looked at its pricing narrative, but the agency and GAO were unpersuaded, with GAO saying that the narrative was "overly general." Protest denied.
New guidance from SBA on the 8(a) Program “reiterating” that the SBA “does not consider any business owner to be ‘socially disadvantaged’ — and therefore eligible to participate in the program – simply because they are a member of a certain minority group.”
The Air Force solicited proposals for "fuel transportation services." After reviewing proposals, the Air Force picked the vendor with better experience with "aviation fuel" even though the solicitation required other fuels, too. GAO found that the protestor's lack of experience with aviation fuel was enough to make the award even if it wasn't considered a significant weakness or deficiency. And because it wasn't a weakness, Air Force wasn't required to raise it during discussions. Protest denied.
GAO: Centerline Logistics Corporation, B-423838,B-423838.2 (Jan 07, 2026)
GSA posted an RFI today with an ultimate goal of "increas[ing] transparency in markups by VARs, which helps to dispel any notion of unfair pricing practices." Responses are due February 9, 2026.
Protestor argued that GSA "misevaluated" the awardee's proposal. GAO reviewed the record and found that, based on that record, GSA's evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation. Protest denied.
Also, a case where the incumbent's past performance was determined to be "high risk" based on its failure to meet SLAs. Ouch.
GAO: CWTSatoTravel, B-423181.2,B-423181.3,B-423181.4 (Dec 19, 2025)
Agency provided a post‑award debriefing on April 16, 2025. Protestor didn't file a protest until September 29, 2025. Protestor claimed that its emails with the agency "stopped the clock." GAO says no dice; the 10-day protest window didn't toll. Dismissed.
DLA planned to procure "423 coupling halves" using a "special emergency procurement authority" and set the procurement aside for small businesses. After a pre-award protest by Chase, DLA canceled the solicitation, and issued a second solicitation with a smaller request for 176 coupling halves. After DLA made an award, Chase protested again. DLA took corrective action to cancel the solicitation and award. GAO dismissed the protest of the second solicitation as academic. GAO also reaffirmed that "an agency may cancel a solicitation during the course of a protest," rejecting Chase's claims related to the first cancellation.
GAO: Chase Supply, Inc., d/b/a Chase Defense Partners, B-424032 (Jan 20, 2026)
Solicitation required that labor rates escalate each year in the period of performance. Protestor didn't include an escalation rate and agency applied a default rate. Protestor claimed this was unreasonable but GAO disagreed, noting that the solicitation required it. Also, protestor claimed a "bait and switch" in the awardee's staffing plan, but GAO found that the agency never took the bait.
GAO: Imagine One Technology & Management, Ltd., B-422875.3,B-422875.4 (Jan 02, 2026)
