National Aeronautics and Space Administration–Constellation Program and Appropriations Restrictions, Part I
B-319488 · gao
Summary
This GAO legal opinion (not a bid protest) addressed whether NASA violated the fiscal year 2010 Exploration appropriation's bar on using funds to 'create or initiate a new program, project or activity' when NASA formed study teams to plan for the President's FY2011 budget proposal to cancel the Constellation program. GAO concluded NASA had not violated the restriction because the teams performed only preliminary planning and did not create new offices, hire staff, award contracts, or initiate procurement actions, while cautioning that three teams' planned Broad Agency Announcements would have to comply with the appropriation. Its relevance to other transactions is limited and indirect, chiefly its treatment of BAAs as instruments for research and development planning.