Competitor to Troubled Background Check Contractor Retains Hope on Bid Protest

More troubles could be looming for the Falls Church, Va.-based contractor USIS, one of its competitors noted Monday.

The Government Accountability Office must decide by Oct. 20 whether to accept the bid protest filed by FCi Federal and cancel the $190 million Homeland Security Department contract awarded to USIS in July.

That contract, to help with border processing by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Field Office Support Services, was awarded to USIS despite an array of setbacks that recently prompted the firm to lay off 2,500 employees. FCi Federal argues that USIS “should be deemed ‘high risk’ and not a responsible contractor, because, in this country, bad behavior should not be rewarded.”

Heretofore the largest private provider of federal security clearance background checks, USIS has already furloughed 2,000 employees. The Office of Personnel Management in September declined to renew its two contracts with the company following a cyber-breach in August that prompted a stop-work order from DHS.

On Oct. 2, Homeland Security officials wrote to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., saying that “components of DHS are being rigorous in their scrutiny of contracts with any companies affiliated with USIS.”

USIS has also been charged with alleged fraud by the Justice Department for rushing submission of incomplete background checks, and its executives have come under fire from members of Congress for their receipt of bonuses.

The competing firm, FCi Federal, also mentioned in its release that reports from Standard and Poor’s suggest that USIS may be unable to meet its debt obligations and could default in six months.

Asked to respond, a spokesman for USIS told Government Executive in an email that “the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services awarded the Field Office Support Services contract to a subsidiary of USIS – US Investigations Services, Professional Services Division Inc. -- . . . after a rigorous two-year competition, which meticulously followed government procurement procedures.  FCi continues to make misleading and inaccurate statements regarding USIS LLC in an attempt to undermine that process.”

The statement went on to challenge characterizations of USIS, noting that other contractors and agencies have been hit by cyberattacks, defending the quality of its background checks and stating that the executives implicated in the bonus controversy are no longer with the firm.

USIS noted that FCi Federal is “the incumbent on the contract” and the Homeland Security Department knows both firms. “A previous challenge of the award of this contract by another disappointed bidder was rejected by a United States Court of Federal Claims,” USIS said. 

(Image via sergign / Shutterstock.com)