Task Order Sprint Pack

Real session, run 2026-10-04 with Claude Sonnet. The scenario is made up for the test.

Lost Army task order: GAO protest options, deadlines, and this week

Short answer: probably not at GAO on a staffing disagreement. At about $28M, an Army (DoD) order is under GAO's $35M DoD threshold. Your real first deadline is the debrief request, which is due today. This is not legal advice. Whether to protest is your decision with counsel, and you should call counsel today.

1. Can you protest at GAO?

Value vs. threshold. GAO takes task order protests only above $35M for DoD orders ($10M for civilian agencies). Your $28M is below that.
2.

The one exception. GAO hears a protest at any value if the order increases the scope, period, or maximum value of the underlying contract. A bad staffing evaluation is not that.
3.

No other protest forum. The Court of Federal Claims is generally barred for task order protests. Protests to the agency are barred too.
4.

What is left. The Army task order ombudsman reviews complaints on orders below the threshold. It is not a protest forum and does not stay performance.
5.

Confirm the number. The threshold is tested against total value including all options. Your $28M is close enough that counsel should confirm what the agency counted, and confirm which agency's threshold applies. Check who actually placed the order on the OASIS+ vehicle. If a non-DoD agency placed it, the $10M civilian threshold could apply.

Even if you did have a forum, "we think the evaluation was wrong" is not a ground. GAO does not re-score. It asks whether the evaluation was reasonable and followed the solicitation. Incumbency carries no weight.

2. Deadlines (award notice Thu Oct 1, 2026)

Deadlines run in calendar days and are strict. Confirm the exact dates with counsel and against the agency's FAR overhaul deviation, which controls.

3. What to do this week

Today (Sun Oct 4): Email the contracting officer a written debrief request. Cite the order number and the Oct 1 notice, and ask for the

enhanced debrief by name. Ask for:

• the weaknesses and deficiencies assigned to your quote under each factor, especially staffing;
• your ratings and the awardee's;
• the awardee's evaluated price;
• the reasoning for the award decision.

Today or Monday: Call a government contracts attorney. Bring the award notice, the request with all amendments, and your quote. Ask them four things:

• Is there any forum at $28M, and does the DoD threshold apply to this order?
• Is there a scope, period, or value argument?
• Was this a small business set-aside, and should we file a size protest by Oct 8?
• Is the ombudsman worth using?

Monday: Check the vehicle and set-aside facts. Find out whether the order was set aside among OASIS+ small business awardees, and who the awardee is. Look up the awardee's size status so you can decide on the Oct 8 size protest.
4.

Tuesday to Wednesday: Build the page-cited list counsel will want. Compare the evaluation to your quote and the request:

• something in your quote the evaluators missed or misread (cite the page);
• a criterion applied that the request never stated;
• the awardee proposed something similar and got no weakness;
• an award decision that does not follow from the ratings.
  Disagreement with a judgment call ("our staffing was fine") does not count as a ground. Missed content, unstated criteria, and unequal treatment do.

5. Thursday Oct 8: Decide on the size protest with counsel.

When the debrief happens: Send follow-up questions within 2 business days. Use the debrief to find what to change on the next order, whether or not any protest is possible.
7.

Parallel: Plan for the incumbent transition. Performance on your current order continues until the agency says otherwise. Ask the CO about transition dates and keep your staff informed. Avoid commitments you cannot keep.

What I can't tell you

Whether the evaluation was actually wrong, whether the awardee is large, and whether this was a set-aside. I need the award notice and the solicitation's evaluation factors for the first and third, and the awardee's name for the second. Send the notice and the staffing factor language and I will help draft the debrief request and the page-cited issues list.