Section 809 Panel Proposes Significant Curtailing of Pre-Award and GAO/COFC Protest Process for Commercial-Item Acquisitions
Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.18.19
Much that has been written about the bid protest reforms in the Section 809 Panel’s final report has focused on Recommendations 66-69, which expressly address (and propose changes to) the protest process at the GAO and the COFC. But the 809 Panel’s most impactful recommended changes to the protest process actually may be contained in Recommendation 35. There, in the context of a discussion of “updating” the DoD’s process for the acquisition of commercial and related items and services, the 809 Panel proposes to eliminate entirely GAO/COFC protests for such acquisitions valued at less than $15 million (and likely many above that threshold as well).
The implementation of Recommendation 35 may have unstated consequences that could ripple across both DoD and civilian agency acquisitions.
Read more here.
Contacts
Insights
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.11.25
Director Squires Revamps the Workings of the U.S. Patent Office
In March 2025, President Trump nominated John A. Squires for the positions of Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). After being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 20-2, Squires was confirmed by the Senate on September 17, 2025, by a vote of 51-47 after anti-filibuster measures were invoked. During and after the confirmation process, Squires emphasized several goals for the USPTO during his time as Director. Such goals included:
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.10.25
Creativity You Can Use: CJEU Clarifies Copyright for Applied Art
Client Alert | 4 min read | 12.10.25
Federal Court Strikes Down Interior Order Suspending Wind Energy Development
Client Alert | 14 min read | 12.10.25
SBA Office of General Counsel Audit of Participants in the 8(a) Program and Beyond
