A federal judge on Friday tossed Oracle’s legal challenge to the Pentagon’s “war cloud” contract, dismissing claims that the Defense Department process was unfair and marred by conflicts of interest.
Court of Federal Claims Judge Eric Bruggink ruled that because Oracle did not meet the project’s technical requirements it cannot claim any favoritism was shown toward rival companies. Amazon and Microsoft are competing for the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract.
The Pentagon wants to pick a winner as soon as next month.
In its court challenge, Oracle claimed that the Defense Department had favored Amazon throughout the process and had engaged in behind-the-scenes talks with top company officials. The Pentagon has consistently denied those allegations.
The massive contract would cover the storage and processing of huge amounts of classified Pentagon data, and the winner would be linked in an unprecedented high-tech partnership with the U.S. military.
Republican lawmakers in recent weeks have urged President Trump to intervene and stop the Pentagon from awarding the contract to a single firm. Critics argue the Pentagon would be better served by using multiple vendors, and they say the president could use his clout to secure a better price.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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