Decision released in protest denial of Air Force modernizing and hardening allied digital infrastructure requirement

DIGEST

Protest that agency improperly canceled solicitation is denied where the record demonstrates that the agency reasonably determined that the solicitation no longer reflected its requirements.

DISCUSSION

QBE challenges the Air Force’s cancellation of the solicitation.  The protester argues that the Air Force impermissibly canceled the solicitation without providing any rationale for its decision.  For the reasons stated below, we find the agency’s cancellation decision to be reasonable.  While we do not address every argument raised by the protester, we have reviewed each argument and find no basis to sustain the protest.  In a negotiated procurement such as this one, a contracting agency has broad discretion in deciding whether to cancel a solicitation and need only have a reasonable basis for doing so.  Abt Assocs., Inc., B-421517, B-421517.2, June 13, 2023, 2023 CPD ¶ 156 at 5.  A reasonable basis to cancel exists when, for example, an agency determines that a solicitation does not accurately reflect its needs.  Id.  So long as there is a reasonable basis for doing so, an agency may cancel a solicitation no matter when the information precipitating the cancellation first arises.  Harmonia Holdings Grp., LLC, B-417475.5, B-417475.6, Jan. 2, 2020, 2020 CPD ¶ 18 at 3.  Where the record reflects that there was a reasonable basis to cancel the solicitation, we will not find that the agency abused its discretion, even though it could have taken a different course of action by amending the solicitation.  See Skyline ULTD, Inc., B-408961, Dec. 27, 2013, 2013 CPD ¶ 298 at 2.  The rationale for the cancellation is set forth in the Army’s cancellation request, as well as the contracting officer’s statement.  AR, Tab 20, Cancellation Request; COS at 7-10.  The Air Force states that the primary reason for canceling the solicitation was that it did not accurately reflect the Army’s needs.  The contracting officer represents that when the Air Force prepared the solicitation, it was operating under the understanding that the Army intended the IDIQ contract to cover the three countries that had requested support from QBE, plus any additional countries that requested support from QBE in the future.  COS at 8.  However, the Air Force subsequently learned that the Army needed a contract to provide support to more than 30 countries, the majority of which had not requested support from the protester.  Id.; MOL at 3-4.  The contracting officer explains: “As [the Army] reviewed the contract documents prior to the anticipated award to QBE, it became clear that the [] solicitation and resulting contract would not meet [the Army’s] vast programmatic needs but, instead, catered solely to specific and limited country needs and was entirely dependent on receipt of LOAs…

DECISION

QBE, LLC, a small business of Haymarket, Virginia, protests the cancellation of a request for proposals (RFP), issued by the Department of the Air Force, for all management, technical, and non-technical skills needed for modernizing and hardening allied digital infrastructure.

• The protester contends that the agency failed to provide a reasonable basis for the cancellation.

We deny the protest.

See the decision here.

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