In Seneca Global Services v. United States, the Court of Federal Claims rejected a contractor's claim based on payment protections that were discussed before award but never properly incorporated into the executed contract. Federal contractors should reconcile signed awards against proposal terms, pricing assumptions, commercial supplier commitments, option provisions, and negotiated exceptions before accepting a federal contract.

The Court of Federal Claims’ Sand Point decision clarifies that failure to consider FAR 49.402-3(f) default-termination factors does not alone invalidate a default termination, but may support a pretext claim when combined with allegations of animus or bad faith.

This article examines the ADS protest of an ICE detention IDIQ, where a winning contractor challenged the solicitation’s pricing caps and structure after award. It explains why the Court of Federal Claims treated those arguments as waived and what the case teaches federal contractors about timing their protests.