When “Reasonable” Means More Than a Weekend: GAO Sustains Protest Over Compressed Response Times
McCarter & English – A contracting officer issues a solicitation amendment on a Friday afternoon, reverses course by Friday evening, and demands a revised quotation by noon on Saturday, then changes the requirements again on both Sunday and Monday with a response window of as little as one hour. The agency’s own suggested solution? Ordering a refrigerator manufactured in Turkey, not available for purchase in the United States. If this sounds like a procurement that went off the rails, the GAO agrees.
