Did FedBid overstep? The GAO says yes.

It was only a $5,000 contract. But Latvian Connection LLC still protested its exclusion from a competition, claiming that the matter should have been forwarded along to the Small Business Administration — not decided by FedBid Inc., a private “agent of the government.”

Protesting contractor: Latvian Connection LLC, of Kuwait City, Kuwait

Contracting agency: Department of State

Protest issue: Whether FedBid, acting as an agent for the government by providing reverse auction services, should…