Opinion ID: 482000
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: are the disputes regarding cica's stay extension and

Text: 31 FEE PROVISIONS RIPE FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT?
32 At the outset we address one issue on which the parties have divided only implicitly. The U.S. Senate, as Intervenor-Appellee, suggests that this Court need only decide the constitutionality of the automatic stay provision, under which the procurement process is automatically suspended for ninety days upon the filing of a bid protest. Because the Comptroller General decided Ameron's bid protest within the ninety days provided by the statute, and did not extend beyond that period the time during which the procurement process was suspended, the Senate argues that we need not decide whether the Comptroller General may constitutionally wield the stay-extending power. The Comptroller General also did not exercise his power, under 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3554(c), to order the procuring agency to re-imburse Ameron for either the cost of preparing its bid protest or the cost of preparing the underlying bid, but there is also some uncertainty among the parties as to whether or not the re-imbursement provision is now before the Court. We analyze the ripeness argument regarding the stay provision and the fee provision separately. 33
34 A fair reading of the Army's contentions about the constitutional infirmity of CICA requires that we reject the Senate's argument as to the ripeness of the controversy regarding the stay extension provisions. The Army points out that the power to extend the stay affects the operation of the procurement process even when that power is not exercised, because the Comptroller General's ability to threaten an extension of the stay--and his ability to promise that he will decide the protest quickly, or dismiss it as frivolous, and thereby cut the stay short--give the Comptroller General influence over the procurement process which the doctrine of separation of powers forbids him to have so long as he is a member of the legislative branch. 35 At least in the First Amendment context, it has been held that if the power to threaten to act in a given way influences the exercise of constitutional rights, then the existence of that power can be judicially reviewed as soon as the power is created. The courts need not wait until the threat is made good. See United States Civil Service Comm'n v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers, 413 U.S. 548, 551-54, 93 S.Ct. 2880, 2883-85, 37 L.Ed.2d 796 (1973) (adjudicating challenge to constitutionality of the Hatch Act, which authorized prosecution of government employees who engaged in certain political activities); compare that case with United Public Workers v. Mitchell, 330 U.S. 75, 67 S.Ct. 556, 91 L.Ed. 754 (1947), in which the Court declined to adjudicate a similar challenge on ripeness grounds. 36 The doctrine of separation of powers gives each branch of the government constitutional rights. These rights are of tremendous importance, as they insure that our government functions properly. They thereby serve as bulwarks to the freedom which the doctrine of separation of powers is intended to preserve. We accordingly believe that the approach to ripeness adopted in the First Amendment context should also be used in disputes about the applicability of the doctrine of separation of powers. We note that the Supreme Court has adopted a uniquely flexible approach to ripeness in the separation of powers context, which also supports the ripeness result we reach here. See Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 113-18, 96 S.Ct. 612, 679-82, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976). 37 We note as well that the Army's argument on ripeness is quite similar to the argument in Synar regarding the present effect of Congress's statutory power to remove the Comptroller General. On the merits, the defenders of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings argued that Congress's power to remove the Comptroller General did not affect the way the Comptroller General carried out his budget cutting duties because the removal power had never been exercised in the sixty-five years since it was created. The Supreme Court rejected that argument, however, holding that the removal power was relevant even though it had never been exercised. Repeating the explanation given by the district court in Synar, the Supreme Court held that it is the Comptroller General's presumed desire to avoid removal by pleasing Congress, which creates the here-and-now subservience to another branch that raises separation of powers problems. Bowsher v. Synar, 106 S.Ct. at 3189 n. 5, quoting Synar v. United States, 626 F.Supp. 1374, 1392 (D.D.C.1986). 38 Similarly, the Army argues in this case that procurement officers will feel obliged to conduct the procurement process differently after CICA, in an effort to minimize conflict with the Comptroller General, so that the Comptroller General does not have the chance to exercise his stay-extending power. In essence the Army is arguing that the procuring agency's desire to avoid [conflict] by pleasing the Comptroller General creates the here-and-now subservience to another branch that raises separation of powers problems. 39 It is certainly conceivable that the stay provisions create here-and-now subservience, as the Army argues. If the Army is right then CICA gives the Comptroller General some power over the procurement process even when he does not exercise the stay-extension authority: the Army is concerned with the Comptroller General's ability to threaten to exercise this power just as it is with his actual use of it. We must therefore decide whether the power to threaten conflicts with the doctrine of separation of powers, for if it does then the Constitution is violated even when the threat is not made good.
40 In this case the Comptroller General has declined to order Ameron's re-imbursement for either its bid proposal or bid protest preparation costs, and Ameron has not included a claim for such re-imbursement in its complaint. In addition, and unlike the stay extension provisions which are at issue here even though they have not been exercised, no argument is made that the Comptroller General's ability to threaten a procuring agency with a re-imbursement order will enable the Comptroller General to influence executive action even when that power is not actually exercised. We therefore believe that the parties' disagreement regarding the constitutionality of the fee provision is not ripe for judicial review. 6