[Update, Tuesday Aug. 11: U.S. Federal Claims Court Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith granted the one-month extension in an order today.]
The federal government wants more time to sort through a legal dispute over the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) project.
The DoD is asking to extend the deadline for its remand decision by one month to Sept. 16, according to court filings made public Monday. Both Amazon Web Services and Microsoft do not oppose the motion.
Microsoft beat out rival Amazon and won the JEDI contract, surprising many who saw Amazon as a shoo-in for the project. Amazon then sued the federal government, claiming that President Trump’s personal animus toward the company improperly impacted the outcome of the contest.
The lawsuit is on hold while the Pentagon reviews aspects of Microsoft and Amazon’s bid. The department planned to “do a re-announcement of our intentions to award,” by the end of August, according to Pentagon CIO Dana Deasy.
Amazon and Microsoft executives sparred in blog posts back in May, each accusing the other of bending the truth in regard to their bids for the project.
Microsoft meanwhile is in talks with the government over a bid to acquire TikTok’s operations in the U.S. amid concerns from the Trump administration with the popular social video app. Trump on Thursday signed an executive order blocking all transactions with ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok, in 45 days.
Some speculate that by helping the federal government avoid the messy, complicated process of banning a global social media brand, Microsoft could improve its chances for JEDI and other federal contracts.
“Bailing the government out like this probably helps their government contracts on some level,” said former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff, speaking with CNBC last week about the potential deal.