Court of Federal Appeals Decision Released: Census Bureau Dissemination Systems Development and Support Services (DSDSS) modification

File No. 24-1386

Background

On August 28, 2023, the Census Bureau issued a Request for Quotation (“RFQ”) for the DSDSS contract, which would be a follow-on task order contract to EDDE, although it includes additional, new Information Technology (“IT”) support for data dissemination services.  The procurement process was a small business total set-aside, and the RFQ contemplated a single task order for IT Professional Services under General Services Administration (“GSA”) Multiple Award Schedule (“MAS”)3 Special Item Number (“SIN”) 54151S. On November 14, 2023, after receiving quotations from various small businesses, including MetroIBR, CTG, and IgniteAction, the Census Bureau awarded the DSDSS task order to IgniteAction, a mentorprotégé joint venture between Ignite IT, LLC and ActioNet, Inc.

MetroIBR filed a protest challenging the DSDSS award to IgniteAction at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), alleging that the Census Bureau’s evaluation of MetroIBR’s and IgniteAction’s quotations was unreasonable and unequal …

Discussion

Plaintiff’s principal argument in favor of an injunction is that the work the agency proposes to award to BLN is not part of its existing FSS task order and cannot be made part of it by modification.  The government counters that the work is within the scope of BLN’s task order, and that all other options for continuing EDDE support services would hamper the Census Bureau’s critical mission of providing data dissemination services to both the government and the public at-large. We are sympathetic to the agency’s desire to fulfill its mission, but that desire cannot short-circuit the government’s obligations under the FAR.

In deciding whether to grant preliminary injunctive relief, the court must consider four factors: (1) plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the merits; (2) whether plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm without the injunction; (3) the balance of the harms between the parties; and (4) the public’s interest in an injunction. Bona Fide Conglomerate, Inc. v. United States, 96 Fed. Cl. 233, 239 (2010). We address each in turn …

Decision

This is a pre-award bid protest brought by IgniteAction JV, LLC (“IgniteAction”) against the U.S. Census Bureau’s (“Census Bureau”) announced intention to modify a task order held by BLN, LLC (“BLN”) under an existing Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”) contract.  The present action is the latest in a series of related protests, all stemming from the Census Bureau’s award in November 2023 of the Dissemination Systems Development and Support Services (“DSDSS”) contract to IgniteAction.   That award was intended to replace and enlarge work under a preexisting contract for the Enterprise Data Dissemination Environment (“EDDE”) project.   The EDDE work and the anticipated DSDSS work is being done at the direction of the Census Bureau’s Center for Enterprise Dissemination Services and Consumer Innovation (“CEDSCI”).   MetroStar Systems, LLC (“MetroStar”) is the incumbent under the EDDE contract.  The award to Ignite was protested by MetroIBR JV LLC (“MetroIBR”), a mentor-protégé joint venture between Imagine Believe Realize, Inc. and MetroStar, and Capital Technology Group (“CTG”).  The agency’s initial effort to cancel the procurement during those protests was challenged and blocked by the court.   To maintain work under EDDE in the interim, the agency has twice awarded a sole source bridge contract to MetroStar.  The latest bridge contract runs out on November 30, 2024.  In an effort to maintain services beyond that date and while the agency decides the future of the DSDSS procurement, the Chief of Census’ Acquisition Division issued a memorandum on August 13, 2024, announcing that the EDDE bridge work currently being performed by MetroStar would be performed by BLN pursuant to a modification to BLN’s existing FSS contract awarded by Census’ Center for New Media Promotion (“CNMP”) within the Associate Director for Communications at the Census Bureau.

Currently pending is plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction against that proposed modification to BLN’s task order to include the EDDE bridge work. A parallel protest by MetroIBR is also pending in docket No. 24-1322.  Oral argument in both cases was held on September 26, 2024, during which we announced that we would grant the request for a preliminary injunction, enjoining the agency modifying BLN’s task order (Task Order No. 1333LB24F00000013) in the proposed manner.  We did not specify the length of the injunction.  We held a status conference on October 2, 2024, to discuss the terms of the injunction.

Read the decision here.

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