ManTech, GovCIO renew protests over $171M TSA award
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By
Nick Wakeman
The Transportation Security Agency chose Maximus to support various IT systems for a second time, but the protesters continue to claim TSA's decision has flaws.
Two companies are renewing their protests of a $171 million Transportation Security Administration award that went to Maximus
ManTech International and GovCIO filed their first protests against the contract in June 2023 at the Government Accountability Office.
They objected to TSA's choice of Maximus for the Operations, Technology, Innovation and Management contract known as OPTIMA. The contract supports TSA’s IT systems and other mission systems.
In their protest, ManTech and GovCIO claimed that there was an impaired objectivity and organizational conflict-of-interest. The protesters argued that Maximus holds another contract that would require it to review the work it will do under OPTIMA.
TSA later pulled back the award to investigate the OCI allegations. After the investigation, the agency again awarded the contract to Maximus.
The re-award has sparked new protests by ManTech and GovCIO, claiming that the investigation was inadequate and that Maximus should not have been allowed to bid on OPTIMA.
ManTech and GovCIO are also challenging the evaluation of proposals and how TSA conducted discussions.
The new protests were filed Tuesday and Thursday. A decision is due from GAO on Sept. 5.