In a climate of heightened scrutiny over federal procurement practices, the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Bid Protest Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2025 underscores persistent and emerging issues within the contracting landscape. While the number of protests filed with GAO in FY25 dipped modestly, underlying challenges – ranging from noncompliance with procurement standards to sustained interagency disagreements – paint a picture of strained integrity in the procurement process.
As procurement spending continues to climb – topping $700 billion annually- the stakes of these decisions grow accordingly. A single flawed solicitation or inconsistent evaluation can reverberate across the economy, delay mission-critical work, and undermine trust in the system. This year’s report illustrates how process integrity remains at risk
Declining Numbers, Persistent Problems
In FY25, the number of protests dropped 6% from FY24, reaching 1,688 filings, down from 1,803 in FY24. This pattern continues a broader downward trend seen since FY21, although the FY23 spike (2,025 filings) remains a notable outlier linked to mass protests over a single large IT contract.
GAO also closed 1,737 cases in FY25, with 359 involving task or delivery orders. Notably, GAO met its 100-day decision deadline for all cases, upholding its reputation for timeliness and procedural discipline.
While the downward filing trend may suggest fewer disputes, it could also reflect shifting dynamics such as greater transparency through enhanced debriefings provided by agencies regarding an unsuccessful offeror’s proposal. At the same time, the year-over-year consistency in the effectiveness rate (52%) implies that despite fewer filings, many protests still reveal valid concerns.
Sustainment Rate and Corrective Action: What Relief Looks Like
While the sustain rate, i.e. the percentage of protests where GAO agreed with the protester on the merits, stood at just 14% in FY25, this low percentage should not be interpreted as a sign that agencies are consistently compliant. In fact, the more telling figure is the effectiveness rate, which includes not just sustained protests but also those where agencies voluntarily take corrective action. At 52%, this figure shows that more than half of all protests result in some form of relief to the protester.
The implication is clear: many agencies acknowledge procurement flaws early in the process, opting to resolve an issue rather than risk an adverse decision. The decision to take corrective action may be driven by legal advice, reputational concerns, or risk management. But the opacity around these decisions -since agencies are not required to publicly disclose specific reasons for corrective action – leaves observers with little insight into patterns or causes of error.
Regardless of the reasons for corrective action, the effectiveness rate provides potential protestors with some assurance that their grievance may be addressed thereby justifying the time and expense of filing a protest.
Prevalent Grounds for Protest: Technical and Evaluation Failures
The GAO identified the three most common grounds for sustaining protests in FY25 as: (1) unreasonable technical evaluations, (2) unreasonable cost or price evaluations, and (3) unreasonable rejection of proposals. These categories reflect recurring weaknesses in how agencies compare proposals, evaluate compliance, and document their decisions.
For example, GAO highlighted the protest of emissary LLC, B-422388.3, B-422388.4, July 29, 2025, 2025 CPD ¶ 177. In that protest, the agency credited the awardee with offering full-period staffing, but the proposal only covered 9 of the required 11 months. The decision highlighted how basic misreadings of offer documents can lead to unjustified awards. Similarly, GAO cited to SynergisT JV, LLC, B-422384.2, B-422384.4, Mar. 11, 2025, 2025 CPD ¶ 83. In that protest, the agency disqualified the protester based on quoting labor under an unlisted special item numbers (SIN), despite the solicitation lacking explicit restrictions. These examples reinforce GAO’s long-standing emphasis that solicitations must be clear and evaluations must rest on stated criteria.
Price evaluation remains an area where procurement officials often find themselves deviating from the stated solicitation criteria. In this area, GAO cited to KBR Servs., LLC; Vectrus Systems Corp., B-422697 et al., Oct. 4, 2024, 2024 CPD ¶ 203. In that protest, GAO found the agency’s price evaluation unreasonable. The awardee’s proposal failed to include its subcontractor’s price information, as required by the solicitation. GAO found that the agency improperly attempted to cure the awardee’s proposal by creating the information that the awardee failed to provide by developing a risk-adjusted price using other information in the awardee’s proposal.
ADR Use and Success Rate: A Quiet Resolution Tool
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) continues to play a vital, if understated, role in protest resolution. While ADR was used in only 53 cases in FY25, a drop from 76 the year before, it achieved a 91% success rate, consistent with prior years.
ADR may involve outcome prediction by GAO attorneys or informal negotiation sessions. These tools allow parties to reach agreement without the adversarial posture of a full protest. For agencies, ADR can help preserve program timelines and reduce reputational risk. For contractors, it offers a quicker, less expensive alternative to litigation. The declining use of ADR may suggest either a lack of awareness or hesitancy among newer contracting personnel. Alternatively, it may reflect a trend toward quicker corrective action offers, making ADR unnecessary in some cases.
Still, when used, ADR’s results speak for themselves. Over 9 in 10 cases are resolved without needing a decision. As such, greater investment in ADR could boost efficiency in future years.
Agency Noncompliance: A Continuing Concern
This year marks the second in a row that a federal agency, this time the Department of the Air Force, refused to fully implement a GAO recommendation following a sustained protest. In ATP Gov, LLC, B-422938, B-422938.2, Dec. 12, 2024, 2024 CPD ¶ 306, GAO found the Air Force had awarded a contract for satellite terminals to a company whose product did not meet the certification requirements outlined in the solicitation.
The protester had complied by offering a fully certified product at a higher cost. The awardee did not but was permitted to certify after award. GAO concluded that this certification violated the stated evaluation criteria. Yet, despite the ruling, the Air Force declined to reevaluate proposals or amend and resolicit, citing performance delays and national security implications.
This agency action follows the Pernix Federal, B-422122.2, Mar. 22, 2024, 2024 CPD ¶ 73 protest in FY24, where the Department of State similarly declined to act on a GAO decision. There, conflicting rules on de facto joint ventures and SAM registration left offerors trapped in a regulatory bind, unable to register in SAM as required, yet eligible under State’s internal rules.
These incidents raise questions about the enforceability of GAO’s authority. While rare, an agency’s refusal to follow recommendations threatens to undermine protest legitimacy. Agencies arguing cost or timing pressures should not become a blanket justification to ignore oversight.
Conclusion: What Lies Ahead
The GAO’s 2025 protest report does not just document the numbers, it tells a deeper story. One of shifting norms, tightening procedural constraints, and agency resistance to oversight. While protest numbers may be dropping, the stakes remain high, especially as procurement decisions continue affecting critical sectors like defense, cybersecurity, and infrastructure.