GAO said Tuesday contractors filed 2,445 bid protests, 50 cost-related claims and 66 petitions for reconsideration with the agency during the past fiscal year.
The agency closed 2,458 bid protest cases and 292 of the challenges were attributable to the office’s jurisdiction over task or delivery orders.
According to GAO, there were 280 ongoing cases when the U.S. government shut down on Oct. 1, 2014, and the situation forced the agency to extend bid protest deadlines for up to 16 days.
The report noted the U.S. Air Force declined to follow recommendations from GAO in connection with a sustained protest on the branch’s Food Transformation Initiative competition.