U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

07/15/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/15/2025 16:11

Sessions Announces Subcommittee Hearing on Bid Protest Reform

WASHINGTON-Subcommittee on Government Operations Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) today announced a hearing on "Bid Protest Reform: Understanding the Problem." The bid protest process is intended to ensure fair and competitive government contracting, but there are concerns some contractors are exploiting loopholes by filing frivolous protests. There is also concern that there isn't enough data to understand how pervasive this problem is. The Subcommittee is working to support the Trump Administration's ongoing efforts to reform these outdated, Clinton-era federal acquisition policies-ensuring the system is no longer manipulated, competition is encouraged, and transparency is prioritized at every level in the bid protest process.

"The bid protest process was designed to ensure that federal procurement is fair, competitive, and accountable to the American people. Unfortunately, what we are seeing today is a system being abused, resulting in higher costs and delayed projects that don't benefit taxpayers. In some cases, these protests are not filed in pursuit of fairness, but rather as a tactic to delay the process and continue receiving payments even after losing a bid. That is not fairness; it is a deliberate manipulation of the system. This subcommittee recognizes that it is time to modernize outdated Clinton-era acquisition policies and work alongside the Trump Administration to reform the bid protest process. A key first step in doing so is really understanding the problems we're trying to solve so that the solutions make sense. I look forward to discussing solutions that curb abuse, encourage real competition, and restore transparency to federal contracting," said Subcommittee Chair Pete Sessions.

WHAT: Hearing titled "Bid Protest Reform: Understanding the Problem"

DATE: Tuesday, July 22, 2025

TIME: 10:00 AM ET

LOCATION: HVC-210, U.S. Capitol Visitor Center

WITNESSES:

  • Ken Patton, Managing Associate General Counsel for Procurement Law, U.S. GAO
  • Christopher Yukins, Research Professor, GW School of Law
  • Zach Prince, Attorney, Haynes Boone

WATCH: The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed online here.

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