Metro East Joint Venture, LLC (75D30125C20468)

B-424392 Apr 21, 2026 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Metro East Joint Venture, LLC, a small business of Chattanooga, Tennessee, protests the issuance of a sole-source contract modification to Chenega Global Protection, LLC, of Chantilly, Virginia, by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for guard services at the CDC's Atlanta and Fort Collins campuses. The protester contends the agency's sole-source modification extending Chenega's performance is contrary to law and regulation, and that the CDC failed to consider various conflicts of interest. Additionally, Metro argues the agency has unduly delayed the implementation of its correction action, taken in response to a prior protest. We dismiss the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: Metro East Joint Venture, LLC File: B-424392 Date: April 21, 2026 Jonathan D. Shaffer, Esq., and John M. Tanner, Esq., Haynes and Boone, LLP, for the protester. William J. Shim, Esq., and Jon J. Gottschalk, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency. Michael P. Grogan, Esq., and Evan D. Wesser, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the agency's issuance of a contract modification that exercises an option period under the incumbent sole-source contract is dismissed as untimely where the protest was filed more than 10 days after the agency posted the original notice indicating that the agency could exercise the option period under challenge and the protester failed to timely challenge the inclusion of the option. DECISION Metro East Joint Venture, LLC, a small business of Chattanooga, Tennessee, protests the issuance of a sole-source contract modification to Chenega Global Protection, LLC, of Chantilly, Virginia, by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for guard services at the CDC's Atlanta and Fort Collins campuses. The protester contends the agency's sole-source modification extending Chenega's performance is contrary to law and regulation, and that the CDC failed to consider various conflicts of interest. Additionally, Metro argues the agency has unduly delayed the implementation of its correction action, taken in response to a prior protest. We dismiss the protest. BACKGROUND Relevant here, the agency explains that Chenega's originally awarded contract was set to expire on November 30, 2024, but the CDC issued a modification--executed pursuant to FAR 52.217-8 (Option to Extend Services)--that extended services until May 31, 2025. Req. for Dismissal, exh. 3 (Redacted Sole Source Justification) at 2-3. The agency then awarded a separate bridge contract to Chenega, which extended performance through December 31, 2025. Id. Metro filed an initial protest with our Office on December 10, 2025, challenging the CDC's intention to issue a sole-source modification of the agency's bridge contract to Chenega. The contract modification would extend the performance period of the contract pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 (Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). The agency's notice explained that a competitive solicitation would not be issued, but responsible sources that believed they could meet the agency's requirements could submit a capabilities and qualifications statement to the CDC by December 11. Metro's protest raised two principal arguments, that (1) personal and organizational conflicts of interest rendered the agency's intended award to Chenega contrary to law and regulation, and (2) the intended sole-source modification exceeded the agency's minimum needs, with respect to the period of performance, option periods, and terms and conditions. On December 19, the agency advised that it would take actions that would render the protest academic. The CDC explained that it would rescind the sole-source notification, consult with the Small Business Administration (SBA) on how to proceed with the procurement, and take new action. The protester provided it had “[n]o objection to [the] agency[‘s] notice[,]” and that it understood the CDC's proposed course of action to mean that “the agency will provide a copy of the GAO protest to SBA as part of its action and will notify us when corrective action is complete.” Electronic Protest Docketing System (B-424147) No. 8. Our Office dismissed the protest as academic. Metro East Joint Venture, LLC, B-424147, Dec. 22, 2025 (unpublished decision). The agency, on December 17, 2025, prepared a separate sole-source justification to extend Chenega's contract for three months (through March 30, 2026), with an additional three-month option period (from April through June 30), and an additional possibility of further performance with the inclusion of FAR 52.217-8. Req. for Dismissal, exh. 3, at 2-3.