GSA restarts work on contract for ID card services

The General Services Administration on Thursday allowed work to resume on a $104 million contract with BearingPoint for identification card services. Bid protests filed in the last few weeks had triggered an automatic stay of work.

GSA overrode the stay after determining that it was in the government's best interest to proceed with the work, a spokeswoman said. The agency's five-year contract with BearingPoint will provide an end-to-end shared services option for federal agencies seeking to comply with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12. The directive requires agencies to issue new high-tech ID cards to employees and contractors.

Work on the Aug. 17 BearingPoint contract halted after Lockheed Martin Corp. filed a bid protest with GSA on Aug. 28. Xtec Inc., a Miami security company, lodged a protest with the Government Accountability Office on Aug. 25, and Electronic Data Systems Corp. filed one with GAO on Sept. 1.

According to an EDS spokesman, the company filed the contract protest because it believed GSA did not properly negotiate with EDS when evaluating its proposal. The spokesman also said GSA's evaluation of the BearingPoint proposal was flawed.

Lockheed and Xtec did not comment on why they challenged the contract award.

It is not clear how much the 11-day delay affected BearingPoint's work to implement an end-to-end ID card solution.

According to a high-level government official with knowledge of the situation, GSA notified the Office of Management and Budget that the implementation schedule was not affected.

GSA has not publicized how many agencies have signed up to use its services to meet an Oct. 27 deadline to start issuing new ID cards. Last week, GSA extended an Aug. 30 deadline indefinitely to allow agencies to order services related to HSPD 12.

GSA has said that agencies that sign up for its shared service offering will meet the Oct. 27 deadline.