In FY2017, the federal government obligated approximately $500 billion to procure goods and services. Federal procurement statutes and regulations—notably the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (CICA) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the government-wide regulation that generally applies to acquisitions by executive branch agencies—establish largely uniform policies and procedur es for how federal executive agencies acquire goods and services. The purpose of these standards is to guide the acquisition system "to deliver on a timely basis the best value product or service to the [government], while maintaining the public's trust and fulfilling public policy objectives," such as the promotion of competition. In an effort to advance the transparency, fairness, and integrity of the procurement system, federal law provides mechanisms for contractors to "protest" (i.e., object to) contract awards and solicitations for failing to comply with federal law. However, empowering contractors to protest procurement decisions has the potential to delay agency acquisitions of goods and services. In recent years, Congress has paid increasing attention to achieving and maintaining the appropriate balance between these competing interests, particularly regarding defense acquisition. For example, the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) required the Department of Defense (DOD) to contract for a comprehensive study on the impact of bid protests on acquisitions, which was released in December 2017. Congress authorizes bid protests in three separate forums: (1) the procuring agency, (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO), or (3) the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC). This report briefly analyzes the varying legal procedures applicable to bid protests under each forum, which may be relevant to Congress as it assesses potential reforms to the bid protest process. First, the report provides an overview of bid protests generally and the legal procedures applicable to bid protests made in each forum. Next, the report analyzes the legal distinctions among these forums. Finally, the report discusses recent legislative developments affecting bid protest procedures and potential considerations for Congress. Generally, a bid protest is a written objection to the conduct of a government agency in acquiring supplies and services for its direct use or benefit. Among other things, this conduct can include violations of law or regulation in the way in which an agency solicits offers for a contract, cancels such a solicitation, awards a contract, or cancels a contract. As previously mentioned, bid protests can be filed with the procuring agency, GAO, or the COFC. The three forums share some common features. For example, they each utilize the same definition of "interested party" to govern who may file a valid protest. However, as discussed in more detail below, the applicable legal procedures and available remedies vary considerably under each forum. Parties generally consider these distinctions when choosing the forum or forums in which to file a protest, and as a result, often begin a protest in one of the nonjudicial forums. In addition, contractors may request, and for certain procurements procuring agencies must provide, pre-award and post-award "debriefings" through which the contractor may acquire certain information about how the agency decided to make an award or to eliminate the contractor from competition for a contract prior to the award decision. Debriefings can help inform an interested party's decision on whether to initiate a protest and through which forum or forums to raise claims. Although there are scant reliable data on the number of protests filed with procuring agencies, public data demonstrate that substantially more protests are filed with GAO on average each year than with the COFC. Parties that disagree with the outcome of a bid protest before a procuring agency or GAO often can still bring claims before the COFC, but the reverse route (filing a protest with a procuring agency or GAO after an adverse COFC decision) is generally not permitted . For example, GAO generally dismisses protests that are currently pending before or have been previously resolved by the COFC. Provisions of the FAR, which were implemented pursuant to a 1995 Executive Order and several broad procurement-related statutory authorities, require executive branch procuring agencies to "provide for inexpensive, informal, procedurally simple, and expeditious resolution of protests." There are no comprehensive publicly available data on protests before procuring agencies; agency protest decisions are not published; and the relevant FAR provisions, which stress speed and simplicity, provide limited guidance for how agencies are expected to implement these "informal" protest procedures. Given the dearth of publicly available data, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding the consistencies and differences of procuring agency protest processes across the government. The relevant FAR provisions provide some standard procedures applicable to agencies hearing a bid protest. For example, only an "interested party" may file a valid protest with a procuring agency. The term "interested party" is defined as an "actual or prospective bidder or offeror whose direct economic interest would be affected by the award of the contract or by failure to award the contract." Interested parties that file a protest with a procuring agency generally do not have a legal right to compel discovery from the procuring agency, although agencies could voluntarily share certain information. In addition, agencies are expected to resolve a protest within 35 days of its receipt. When a procuring agency receives a protest from an interested party, the agency must halt (i.e., "stay") the award or implementation of the relevant contract until the protest is resolved, unless the agency concludes that there are "urgent and compelling reasons" or where moving forward with the contract is "in the best interest of the Government." The purpose of this "automatic stay" is to ensure that agencies have sufficient opportunity to remedy legal violations before the contract moves forward. Procuring agencies are expected to provide parties a "well-reasoned" explanation of the agency's protest decision. Procuring agencies may provide the same relief that GAO is authorized by law to recommend, which, as discussed below, includes canceling or reissuing a contract or solicitation. The primary recourse for parties that are unsatisfied with how the procuring agency resolved the protest generally is to file a protest with either GAO or the COFC. Under certain limited circumstances, protests also can be filed with specialized agencies. For example, small business size certification determinations can be protested with the Small Business Administration. GAO has been a forum for resolving protests for nearly a century and is the only agency with the authority to hear protests from across the federal government. Federal law, primarily through CICA, authorizes "interested parties" to file a protest with GAO regarding a federal agency's procurement contract solicitation or award. More specifically, federal law provides that these parties can argue that a federal agency violated a statute or regulation in the way in which the agency defined who may be eligible for a contract in the solicitation, canceled a contract solicitation, or determined who is awarded a contract. The term "interested party" has the same meaning for the purposes of a GAO bid protest as it does for a protest before the procuring agency, i.e., the contractor must be "an actual or prospective bidder" with "a direct economic interest" in the challenged procurement action. Thus, contractors who simply desire to bid for a contract can qualify as an "interested party" when they challenge a pre-award solicitation. However, GAO often will limit post-award protests to parties that both bid on the contract and were next in line to win the contract, unless the challenging party raises a claim that, if ultimately successful, would allow it to jump ahead of multiple parties. Additionally, potential subcontractors generally do not qualify as interested parties because they are not "actual or prospective bidder[s] or offeror[s]." Federal law generally requires protests before GAO to be "inexpensive and expeditious" and establishes time limits for filings by the parties and for rulings by GAO that are shorter than those that are applicable to a typical judicial process, but longer than those applicable to protests before a procuring agency. GAO protests normally must be filed within 10 days of the time in which the violation "is known or should have been known." Absent extenuating circumstances, GAO dismisses untimely protests. GAO also must inform the relevant agency of a protest within one day of the protest being filed. This notice typically triggers a 30-day window for the procuring agency to respond, unless GAO provides an extension. The procuring agency generally must provide GAO and the protestor all documents "relevant" to the protest for GAO's consideration. GAO generally has 100 days from the day on which the protest was originally filed to issue a recommendation in a matter, although GAO may also consider protests pursuant to an "express" proceeding for cases that GAO determines may be feasibly resolved within 65 days. Upon receiving notice from GAO, the procuring agency typically must implement an automatic stay , thus halting the award or performance of a contract until GAO issues a recommendation on the protest. By statute, the procuring agency generally may only lift, or "override," the automatic stay prior to GAO's recommendation for a limited number of reasons, such as if "performance of the contract is in the best interests of the United States" or there are "urgent and compelling circumstances which significantly affect interests of the United States [that] will not permit waiting for the decision of [GAO]." Agencies that override an automatic stay must justify the decision in writing and provide notice to GAO. GAO does not have legal authority to reverse an automatic stay override or to review the decision. However, the COFC, upon a motion from an interested party, can review an agency's decision to override the stay. The COFC may reverse the agency's decision to override the stay through the issuance of a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction that requires an agency to halt performance of the contract.