Amazon To Ask Court To Block Microsoft From Working On $10 Billion JEDI Contract

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Amazon Web Services is expecting a decision next month from a U.S. court about whether the brakes will be slammed on the Pentagon’s lucrative Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract awarded to Microsoft. The filing (PDF), on January 13, sets up the schedule for key dates including February 11, when AWS and Microsoft’s lawyers have agreed to expect a court to decide on AWS’s motion for a temporary restraining order. A preliminary injunction is also possibly on the cards. The significance of February — and the reason for the sped-up negotiated schedule — is that three days before Valentine’s, the $10 billion mega-contract is supposed to begin, and, as the filing notes, “the United States has previously advised AWS and the Court [it] will begin on February 11, 2020,” reiterating that “the United States’ consistent position that the services to be procured under the Contract are urgently needed in support of national security.” Interestingly, the U.S. — via the Department of Defense — said in the document that in this specific “bid protest case, it does not intend to file an answer” to AWS’s complaint. Microsoft and the U.S. government have agreed to file their motions to dismiss on January 24 — the same date AWS is flinging out its “temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction” to pull the JEDI light saber away from Microsoft. Amazon’s initial formal appeal of the decision pointed much of the blame at President Trump, who has been a public critic of Amazon. “Should it get the nod, AWS’s injunction will ‘prevent the issuance of substantive task orders under the contract’ despite the U.S.’s position that the services ‘are urgently needed in support of national security,'” reports The Register.