Border Wall Contractual Dispute

The loser of a bid to build part of Trump’s border wall has protested the bidding process leading to a rival winning the $1 billion contracts.  A complaint has been filed with the Government Accountability Office, which now has 100 days to resolve the complaint.

At issue is a questionnaire which asked what previous work any bidder had completed on the border wall within the last five years, which narrowed the qualifying bidders to just two firms. In effect, argues plaintiff Fisher Sand & Gravel, the process used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers suppressed competition by designating only two firms as sole source contractors, thus leading to a process where the end result was known ahead of time.

The construction of the highly controversial wall will thus be delayed.  Of course, everyone must observe the law, including government agencies. Contractual bidding processes involving no less than one billion taxpayer dollars should arguably be subject to particularly close scrutiny.