CACI's $450M DHS win gets thrown out by GAO

GAO upholds protest of CACI winning a financial management systems modernization contract at DHS and recommends a new competition.

The GAO dismissed Savantage’s protest but upheld that of Glocal Computer Enterprises, Chuck Young, GAO managing director of public affairs, wrote in an e-mail to today.

CACI International will need to compete all over again if it wants to hang on to a $450 million financial management systems modernization contract it won from the Homeland Security Department last year.

The Government Accountability Office confirmed today that it has upheld a protest against the DHS award to CACI. The 10-year contract is valued at up to $450 million.

DHS awarded the Transformation and Systems Consolidation contract to CACI this past November. Shortly afterward, Global Computer Enterprises, of Reston, Va., and Savantage Financial Services, of Rockville, Md., filed protests with the GAO.


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Washington Technology

Typically, if a contract protest is upheld, the award is canceled and the contract is recompeted. Information was not immediately available on whether that would occur in this case.

But sources at the GAO were quoted by NextGov in an article today saying that the watchdog agency has recommended that the financial modernization contract be revised and recompeted.

Jody Brown, CACI executive vice president for corporate communications, said today that at the government’s request, CACI would not be commenting on the decision.

The transformation contract has been criticized by federal auditors and lawmakers in recent months and was included in a group of troubled financial system modernization contracts that were suspended, examined and reconfigured with White House guidance last year. DHS moved forward on the contract award following that process.

CACI International, of Arlington, Va., ranks No. 16 on Washington Technology's 2010 Top 100 list of the largest government contractors.