The Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides an objective, independent, and impartial forum for the resolution of disputes concerning the awards of federal contracts. Today, filing a bid protest is easy, inexpensive, and does not require the services of an attorney (although protesters may be represented by counsel). In general, the bid protest process takes significantly less time than the alternative of court litigation.
Recently there has been a perceived increase in the number of protests and, more disconcertingly, that firms may be protesting government contracts as a strategy to either negotiate their way into contracts or derail an award process already in place. Are these perceptions accurate? Are firms protesting more frequently?