House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Mac Thornberry’s (R-Texas) fiscal year 2017 mark calls for the defense secretary to hire an independent entity to review the bid protest process related to major acquisition programs.
The review would include an assessment of the incidence and duration of bid protests, whether bid protests have delayed procurement actions and whether bid protests are frequently used by, or provide financial benefits to, incumbent contractors. The provision would require a briefing on the independent entity’s findings by March 1 and a final report on its findings by July 1. 
In its bill language summary, the committee said it recognizes that the bid protest process serves a valuable role in helping ensure the overall integrity of the federal procurement system. But in recent years, the committee believes there have been conflicting reports about the role of bid protests in the Defense Department and whether the number of protests has increased and contributed to avoidable cost and schedule effects on acquisition programs. The committee believes this review is likely to offer government-wide acquisition insights.
The Professional Services Council (PSC) advocacy group opposes any further action to the bid protest process beyond this independent entity review. In a April 25 letter to Thornberry and committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), PSC Executive Vice President and Counsel Alan Chvotkin said Congress should wait for the results of the report before taking further action. PSC represents government contractors who provide services like engineering and information technology (IT) work to the federal government.
Thornberry’s mark also proposes removing the requirement for the milestone decision authority, prior to Milestone B approval, to determine affordability and funding levels for a major defense acquisition program relative to the future years defense program (FYDP) submitted during the year in which the determination is made. The summary says since the FYDP is not developed until the end of the year, the current requirement is typically waived.
This section would maintain the requirement to determine affordability and on unit cost and total lifecycle cost, as well as determine the expected funding for product development and production.