Life Science Logistics, LLC lost a 10-year contract for a National Capital Region SNS facility to Integrated Quality Solutions in October 2023. LSL, which has operated multiple SNS sites since 2007, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, triggering an automatic 100-day stay of performance under the CICA.
Weeks after the stay began, the GSA issued a determination stating that "urgent and compelling circumstances now exist that significantly affect the interests of the United States and do not permit waiting for the GAO decision." The agency relied on that finding to override the stay and permit IQS to begin performance.
LSL sued in the Court of Federal Claims, arguing the override violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The trial court agreed and granted declaratory relief without requiring LSL to prove likelihood of success, irreparable harm, or the other elements of the preliminary injunction standard.
On appeal, the government argued the declaratory judgment was effectively coercive and should be treated as an injunction, which would have required LSL to satisfy the four-factor test.
Circuit Judge Stark, writing for a unanimous panel, rejected that framing. The court held that Congress imposed no burden on the protester under the CICA and that the filing of a written protest alone triggers the automatic stay.
Requiring the four-factor test, Stark wrote, would "undesirably incentivize the government to override more (if not all) CICA stays." The panel found that any coercive effect flowed from the statute itself, not the judicial judgment.
The underlying dispute became moot after the GAO sustained LSL's protest in February 2024 and the government withdrew the override. The Federal Circuit applied the "capable of repetition yet evading review" exception, noting that CICA disputes unfold too quickly for full appellate review.