Protests of contract administration activities

As the above examples show, typically the government procures goods and series through the solicitation process. But sometimes the government also procures goods and services during a contract administration phase, such as when it modifies a contract to procure more (or fewer) goods and services. So although GAO's protest jurisdiction typically involves the solicitation process, GAO on occasion gets involved in the contract administration process.

When GAO does get involved in the contract administration process, it's typically because of change orders the government wants to issue. When the government realizes it has to change contract work, it can modify the existing contract to give the incumbent contractor the work or it can solicit the changed need from vendors using full and open competition. GAO can handle protests of whether changes to a contract should have been competed under full and open competition rather than awarded sole source to the incumbent contractor.

What GAO is looking for is whether the change is within the scope of the contract and within one of the designated areas of the contract covered by the Changes clause; for example, the method of shipment or packing,

On occasion, GAO gets in involved in parts of the contract administration process other than changes. For example, GAO can review the use of a termination for convenience as a protest remedy. Normally, whether an agency properly used a termination for convenience is a matter for the claims process. On rare occasions, however, the government uses the Termination for Convenience clause in the protest process to right some wrong done during the solicitation process. In that event, GAO reviews the agency's use of the termination for convenience remedy.

The above information and additional information can be used to answer the question below:

The concept is to develop an analysis of the subject(s) learned throughout this government contract law class and how these subject(s) will help me in my chosen career path. My chosen career path is a major in healthcare management with a minor in acquisition and contract management.