Development InfoStructure, LLC — d/b/a Devis (B-422776.2)

You should care.

Categories: Multiple Award Schedule, rule of two

Date: 15 September 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-422776.2

Development InfoStructure, doing business as Devis, a small business, protests the issuance of a task order to Credence Management Solutions under an RFQ issued by the Department of State for management and operations support for refugee processing centers. After Executive Orders in January 2025 suspended refugee admissions and paused foreign development assistance, the agency amended the solicitation, reducing staffing by 55 percent and inactivating one of nine functional areas. Devis argues State should have canceled the solicitation and resolicited the reduced requirement after conducting new market research and a new small business set-aside determination.

Competition requirement: GAO found the agency complied with applicable FSS procedures under FAR subpart 8.4. The agency issued the amendment to all seven vendors that submitted initial quotations, reasonably expecting at least three could fulfill the reduced requirements. All seven submitted revised quotations. FAR part 15 negotiated procurement requirements, including FAR section 15.206, do not apply to FSS acquisitions.

Set-aside decision: GAO dismissed this ground for failure to state a valid basis of protest. Under FAR sections 8.405-5(a)(1)(i) and 19.502-4(c), small business set-asides under the GSA Schedules program are discretionary, not mandatory. The fact that the agency voluntarily conducted market research and consulted with OSDBU and SBA did not create a binding obligation to repeat those steps when the requirement changed. The agency's prior engagement with the set-aside process did not constitute a waiver of its statutory discretion.

The protest is denied. For procurement professionals, the case reinforces that FSS acquisitions satisfy CICA's competition requirements through their own streamlined procedures, and the rule of two does not apply to orders placed under the FSS program—even when the scope changes dramatically.

Digest

1. Protest challenging agency's decision to amend the solicitation, in the face of changed requirements, is denied where the agency followed applicable Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) procedures.
2. Protest challenging agency's failure to conduct additional market research and analysis in deciding not to set the procurement aside for small business concerns is dismissed for failure to state a valid basis of protest where set-asides conducted under the FSS program are discretionary.