GAO Sustains TISTA’s Protest Over NIH Task Order Award
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has sustained a protest filed by TISTA Science and Technology Corporation against the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) decision to award a task order to Tantus Technologies. The protest, filed by Blank Rome LLP attorneys Elizabeth N. Jochum and David L. Bodner, alleged unequal treatment of offerors during the procurement process.
The NIH had assessed a strength to Tantus Technologies for proposing to maintain a ‘warm bench’ of candidates to meet potential surge staffing needs. Conversely, the agency assigned a weakness to TISTA for proposing a similar strategy involving a pool of pre-vetted candidates. The agency justified this disparate treatment by arguing that Tantus’s ‘warm bench’ consisted exclusively of existing employees, while TISTA’s proposal would require hiring additional staff.
However, the GAO rejected this argument, finding that both proposals provided for surge staffing using a mix of existing and yet-to-be-hired employees. As a result, the GAO sustained TISTA’s allegation of unequal treatment. The GAO also found that the NIH treated the two offerors unequally when it assigned a strength to Tantus Technologies for its use of a ‘master schedule’ but did not assign a similar strength to TISTA for its proposed use of a ‘master tracker.’
This decision highlights the importance of consistent and fair evaluation practices in government procurement processes. The GAO’s ruling demonstrates its commitment to ensuring that agencies treat offerors equally and follow established procurement regulations.
The case reference is B-422891.2; .3; .4, and the decision was made public on March 13, 2025.
