Federal Circuit Ruling on FASA Task Order Bar

This client alert details the Federal Circuit's decision in the case of Percipient.ai, Inc. v. United States, which addresses the implications of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) task order bar on protest standing. The Court examined Percipient's protest regarding the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) procurement process for a task order awarded to CACI, Inc. The ruling clarifies that the FASA bar does not apply to protests that do not directly challenge the issuance of a task order. The Court determined that Percipient's allegations of NGA's failure to conduct adequate market research before awarding the task order did not fall under the FASA bar, thereby allowing the Court of Federal Claims (CFC) to exercise jurisdiction over the protest. Furthermore, the Court established that Percipient had standing to protest despite not being a bidder, expanding the interpretation of 'interested party' under the Tucker Act. This ruling may lead to an increase in protests from potential subcontractors in similar situations.