31 U.S.C. § 3556
Section 3556 · Nonexclusivity of remedies; matters included in agency record
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 36 court decisions — leading case Honeywell, Inc. v. United States (1989)
Most recently applied in 128 Fed. Cl. 656 - Proxtronics Dosimetry, LLC v. United States (September 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
This subchapter does not give the Comptroller General exclusive jurisdiction over protests, and nothing contained in this subchapter shall affect the right of any interested party to file a protest with the contracting agency or to file an action in the United States Court of Federal Claims. In any such action based on a procurement or proposed procurement with respect to which a protest has been filed under this subchapter, the reports required by sections 3553(b)(2) and 3554(e)(1) of this title with respect to such procurement or proposed procurement and any decision or recommendation of the Comptroller General under this subchapter with respect to such procurement or proposed procurement shall be considered to be part of the agency record subject to review.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1996—Pub. L. 104–320, which directed the amendment of this section by striking “a court of the United States or” in first sentence, was executed by striking “a district court of the United States or” after “to file an action in” in first sentence to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
1992—Pub. L. 102–572 substituted “United States Court of Federal Claims” for “United States Claims Court”.
Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 104–320 effective Jan. 1, 2001, see section 12(f) of Pub. L. 104–320, set out as a Nonexclusivity of GAO Remedies note below.
Effective Date of 1992 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective Date
Section applicable with respect to any protest filed after Jan. 14, 1985, see section 2751(b) of Pub. L. 98–369, set out as a note under section 251 of Title 41, Public Contracts.
Nonexclusivity of GAO Remedies
Section 12(f) of Pub. L. 104–320 provided that: “In the event that the bid protest jurisdiction of the district courts of the United States is terminated pursuant to subsection (d) [set out as a Sunset Provision note under section 1491 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure], then section 3556 of title 31, United States Code, shall be amended by striking ‘a court of the United States or’ in the first sentence.” [Bid protest jurisdiction of the district courts of the United States terminated on Jan. 1, 2001, pursuant to section 12(d) of Pub. L. 104–320.]