On July 22, 2025 — just before the House was called into recess — members of the GW Law public procurement community testified on bid protest reforms before the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Government Operations.
The hearing, which called on experts to testify about potential bid protest reforms, was led by the Subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Pete Sessions (TX), and ranking member Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD). Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) also offered opening remarks.
Kenneth Patton, Managing Associate General Counsel at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and a member of GW Law's Government Procurement Law Program advisory board, was the lead witness. He presented GAO's response to Section 885 of last year's National Defense Authorization Act, which asked for input on proposed changes, such as charging costs to losing protesters. Patton explained why GAO (and the Defense Department) believe radical changes to the protest system are not needed— that the bid protest system is fundamentally sound, after a century of development.
GW Law Professor Christopher Yukins and alumnus Zachary Prince, JD '13, who is now a partner at the law firm of Haynes & Boone and an adjunct professor at the Law School, agreed. They urged members of Congress instead to expand agency debriefings to losing bidders, to reduce bid protests and expand transparency. (By coincidence, GW Law the same day hosted part of its global webinar series with the Open Contracting Partnership in Asia, on transparency in contracting.)
"While the hearing was important for national reform, it also had a special meaning for all of us at GW Law School," Yukins said. "When governments and institutions around the world — including our own Congress — need insights on public procurement law, they turn to our community. It makes all our work worthwhile."
After the hearing Yukins and Prince met with House staffers to discuss next steps, including a webinar that GW Law will be holding on September 9 on developments in bid protests.
Watch the subcommittee hearing below: