In a brief statement released Thursday after markets closed, the GSA said it is conducting the review of all contracts with the company "for purposes of determining present responsibility."
A call for comment left for a GSA spokeswoman wasn't immediately returned.
Qwest spokeswoman Kate Varden said the company "made attempts to contact the GSA to better understand what the statement means, but we were unable to reach them this afternoon."
"We value our relationship with the federal government," she said. "They're a very important customer to us."
In the past year, Qwest has faced a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into its accounting practices, a downgrade of its credit rating to junk status and a sinking stock price. Longtime chief executive Joseph Nacchio resigned last month.
This week, the Justice Department confirmed it was investigating the company, too.
Reports have indicated that one of the practices being examined is a process called "capacity swaps," whereby Qwest bought telephonic capacity on another company's system and booked it as a capital expense. The company then recorded the expense slowly, over several years, while selling the same amount of capacity to the other firm and booking that immediately as revenue.
Word of the investigation comes at a time when the federal government is pledging a thorough crackdown on corporate misdeeds after a series of scandals at major companies have eroded investor confidence in Wall Street.
Qwest, which was once part at the Bell System under AT&T Corp., is the local phone company for 14 states extending from Minnesota west to Washington and southwest to Arizona and New Mexico.
Qwest shares gained 10 cents, or 5.6 percent, to close Thursday $1.87 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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