Leidos battles Perspecta over lost HUD contract

Leidos is waging a battle for a second chance at a $146.7 million contract won by Perspecta for IT modernization services to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Known as HEAT or HUD Enterprise Architecture Transformation, Perspecta won this work as a task order under CIO-SP contract for end user support.

A posting on FPDS.gov says the contract runs through Sept. 29, 2026.

HEAT is a new requirement, but Deltek names both Leidos and Perspecta as incumbents on the previous contract. The new contract will cover email, desktop services, the provisioning of hardware and software, and access to HUD applications and service desk support.

Leidos is arguing that HUD made an unreasonable decision by picking Perspecta.

Leidos has made three supplemental filings since it first filed to the Government Accountability Office on Nov. 1, a move that is unusual during the first month of a protest.

It appears the first filing was to get a protest on the record within five days of the close of Leidos’ debriefing. This is an important milestone because it kicks off an automatic stay or stoppage to any work by Perspecta under the contract. In essence, the protest froze the contract.

Agencies have 30 days to file their response, so HUD has until Dec. 1 to file that document. It is usually after that filing that protestors make supplemental filings. But before that response, agencies can make other filings such a request for dismissal and a notice of what documents the agency will provide.

Companies can respond to these filings. They also can make supplemental filings independent of what the agency does, usually when they learn of new information.

It is hard to discern why Leidos has made so many supplemental filings, but it is clear that Leidos is fighting hard to turn back the Perspecta award. This isn’t a matter of a protest to get a better understanding about why a bid failed.

My expectation is that either HUD will pull the award away from Perspecta as part of a corrective action or this protest will make all the way to a GAO decision that rejects Leidos’ arguments or recommend other actions from the agency.

Leidos filed the first protest on Nov. 1. GAO has 100 days to make a decision, so look for answer on or around Feb. 10.