A summary of the most prevalent grounds for sustained protests during the 2014 fiscal year. The GAO sustained 13% of the protests it decided on the merits. However, the GAO does not decide a significant number of protests on their merits because agencies frequently resolve protests by taking voluntary corrective action. Agencies are not required to report any of the reasons they decide to take voluntary corrective action.

In descending order of frequency, the most prevalent reasons for the GAO sustaining a protest were:

Overall data on bid protests filed with the GAO during the 2014 fiscal year. The GAO received 2,561 cases, which consisted of:

The GAO closed 2,458 cases, 292 of which were attributable to its jurisdiction over task orders. The closed cases consisted of:

Each instance that a federal agency did not fully implement the GAO's recommendations made in a bid protest decision that was issued in the 2014 fiscal year. The Air Force was the only agency to not fully implement the recommendations made by the GAO in a decision. The sustained protest involved the Air Force's failure to follow applicable competitive procedures (Matter of: Asiel Enterprises, Inc., B-408315.2, Sept. 5, 2013, 2013 CPD ¶ 205).

Each instance in the 2014 fiscal year when the GAO did not issue a decision within 100 calendar days from the date the protest was filed. The GAO extended all of its bid protest deadlines by 16 days because of the federal government shut down that lasted from October 1 to October 16, 2013. There were 280 active protests at the time the shut down began and 39 of these were not resolved within the original 100 calendar day limit. All of the protests active during the shut down were resolved by the expiration of the 16 day extension.