Maxim Healthcare Staffing Services, Inc.

The procurement

On-site medical staffing for ICE detention facilities in Texas, competed as a task order under an IDIQ contract through a fair opportunity proposal request (FOPR) under FAR 16.505. Award used a best-value tradeoff (technical approach, management approach, plans, price), and the order was valued at more than $10 million.

The protest

ICE first awarded the task order to Maxim. After another offeror protested, ICE took corrective action, found that Maxim's SAM registration had lapsed from October 11 to November 21, 2023, which included the November 9 proposal due date, and moved the order to InGenesis, Inc. Maxim argued that the FOPR never included FAR 52.204-7, so nothing in the solicitation required active registration at submission.

The agency’s answer

ICE argued that FAR 52.204-7 is mandatory in solicitations and that the IDIQ solicitation included it. It also argued that Maxim's IDIQ contract contains FAR 52.204-13, which requires registration to be maintained, and that the FOPR incorporated all of the IDIQ contract's terms.

What decided it

Neither the FOPR nor Maxim's IDIQ contract included 52.204-7, and an omitted mandatory provision is not read in by operation of law.

GAO found ICE's conclusion that Maxim was ineligible unreasonable, because the requirement to be registered at proposal submission was never incorporated into the FOPR, and the IDIQ contract's registration clause does not make a lapse disqualifying for task order competitions. GAO recommended terminating the order to InGenesis for convenience, reopening the competition with Maxim's proposal included in the tradeoff, making a new selection decision, and reimbursing Maxim's protest costs.