Senators Propose Protest Rights for Feds in Job Competitions Two senators introduced legislation to give federal employees the right to appeal to the General Accounting Office during and after job competitions. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin (MI) said the bill would level the playing field by giving federal employees the same appeal rights as contractors. In April the GAO determined that federal employees lack standing to file protests under the Competition in Contracting Act. The GAO encouraged Congress to address the issue. The Collins-Levin bill would extend protest rights on behalf of federal employees to two officials — the Agency Tender Official who leads the government’s in-house team and a representative chosen by the affected employees. It does not give protest rights to unions, although employees could choose a union official as their representative. While the sponsors called their legislation a fairness issue, contractor groups protested that private-sector employees have no appeal rights.