Question:
Under federal law, when accepting bids on a contract, an agency must hold “discussions” with all offerors. An agency may ask a single offeror for “clarification” of its proposal, however, without holding “discussions” with the others. Regulations define clarifications as “limited exchanges.” In March 2001,the U.S. Air Force asked for bids on a contract. The winning contractor would examine, assess, and develop means of integrating national intelligence assets with the U.S. Department of Defense space systems, to enhance the capabilities of the Air Force’s Space Warfare Center. Among the bidders were Information Technology and Applications Corp. (ITAC) and RS Information Systems, Inc. (RSIS).The Air Force asked the parties for more information on their subcontractors but did not allow them to change their proposals. Determining that there were weaknesses in ITAC’s bid, the Air Force awarded the contract to RSIS. ITAC filed a suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against the government, contending that the post-proposal requests to RSIS, and its responses, were improper “discussions.” Should the court rule in ITAC’s favor? Why or why not?