A protester argued the agency had no reasonable basis to cancel a solicitation. GAO said the agency's lack of funding provided a sufficient reason even though the agency did not initially state it as a reason for cancellation.
MGM Computer Systems, Inc., GAO B-422741
- Protest - The agency published a solicitation for a WanderGuard BLUE patient elopement wander management system or an equivalent system. The funding for this procurement was $110,000, which was also the agency's independent government cost estimate. The agency concluded the protester's quotation met all specifications, but the price was unreasonable. The protester revised its quotation and reduced the price to $248,174. The agency canceled the solicitation. The protester challenged the decision with GAO.
- Reasonable Price - GAO denied the protest. An agency has broad discretion in deciding whether to cancel a solicitation and only needs a reasonable basis for doing so. Here, lack of funding for a procurement constituted a reasonable basis for cancellation. Even though lack of funding was not identified as a reason for cancellation until after the RFQ was canceled, GAO accepted the rationale because it would have supported cancellation had it been advanced originally.
The protester was represented by Michael Maurer. The agency was represented by Natica Chapman Neely of the Department of Veteran Affairs. Kasia Dourney and Alexander O. Levine of GAO participated in the preparation of the decision.
-- Case summary by Joshua Lim, Assistant Editor