The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) in June 2025 announced the expansion of transactional data reporting (TDR) to 62 new product and cloud services Special Item Numbers (SINs) and...more
U.S. Department of War (DOW) Secretary Pete Hegseth on January 16, 2026, posted a video on social media calling for a line-by-line review of DOW 8(a) sole-source contracts of more than $20 million. The secretary stated his...more
1/27/2026
/ 8(a) Program ,
Audits ,
Contract Termination ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Prime Contractor ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SBA ,
Set-Asides ,
Small Business ,
Sole Source Contracts ,
Subcontractors
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on January 22, 2026, issued a press release and formal guidance related to the 8(a) Business Development Program (8(a) Program). The 8(a) Program provides federal government...more
1/23/2026
/ 8(a) Program ,
Audits ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
New Guidance ,
Prime Contractor ,
Race Discrimination ,
SBA ,
Set-Aside Contracts ,
Small Business ,
Trump Administration
The White House on January 7, 2026, issued an executive order (EO) titled "Prioritizing the Warfighter in Defense Contracting," which aims to accelerate defense procurement and enhance the defense industrial base by shifting...more
1/8/2026
/ Corporate Governance ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Production Act ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration
The president signed an executive order (EO) on Dec. 18, 2025, titled "Ensuring American Space Superiority," with the goal of enhancing U.S. leadership in space through several initiatives. Among other things, the EO calls...more
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Nov. 21, 2025, issued a memorandum establishing comprehensive requirements for the procurement and use of secure unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) by federal agencies and recipients...more
12/1/2025
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Drones ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
Manufacturers ,
National Security ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
NIST ,
OMB ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
On Nov. 10, 2025, the long-awaited final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program became effective. This rule,...more
Much of the federal government is funded by 12 annual appropriations bills. The federal fiscal year (FY) for 2026 begins on Oct. 1, 2025, and, if appropriations bills have not been enacted into law before that date or a...more
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has issued the long-awaited final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program....more
9/10/2025
/ Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Subcontractors ,
Supply Chain
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) recently addressed the scope of its jurisdiction over Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements in the case of Telesto Group, LLC v. United States, No. 1:24-cv-01784. The case...more
6/9/2025
/ Army ,
Bid Protests ,
COFC ,
Contract Disputes ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Jurisdiction ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Tucker Act
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently issued a memorandum signaling that defense contractors soon will be required to comply with new cybersecurity compliance requirements. The memorandum establishes...more
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contractors with foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) soon will face new requirements. Though cleared DOD contractors have long been bound by FOCI obligations, the new rule will...more
4/24/2025
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Covered Entities ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Foreign Entities ,
Foreign Nationals ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Subcontractors ,
Supply Chain
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on federal procurement titled "Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement" on April 15, 2025 (the April 15 EO), directing that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) be...more
4/21/2025
/ Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Government Agencies ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
OMB ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
President Donald Trump on April 9, 2025, signed three executive orders (EOs) focused on accelerating defense procurement, improving foreign defense sales between the U.S. and its allies and revitalizing American maritime...more
4/14/2025
/ Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
National Security ,
OMB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
As Holland & Knight previously discussed, the Trump Administration issued an executive order (EO) on Feb. 26, 2025, implementing the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) "cost efficiency initiative" that (among...more
4/4/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Contract Termination ,
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Grants ,
Grants ,
Mitigation ,
Popular ,
Strategic Planning ,
Trump Administration
In a decision published on Feb. 24, 2025, Judge Armando Bonilla of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC or Court) weighed in on the ongoing debate about jurisdiction over protests of other transaction agreements (OTAs). The...more
3/18/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Bid Protests ,
Contracts Clause ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Jurisdiction ,
Popular ,
Raytheon ,
Tucker Act
Earlier this year, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule to implement the Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Program as it relates to federal contracts. The proposed rule is "just one element of a larger strategy to...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the president lacks authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to set a federal contractor minimum wage, creating a split with other...more
11/12/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA) ,
Final Rules ,
Minimum Wage ,
Obama Administration ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Split of Authority ,
Wage and Hour
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on June 6, 2024, published a Final Rule (the Rule) to eliminate self-certification for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) whose federal government contracts...more
Recipients of grants and other forms of federal financial assistance will soon get much-needed relief from the heavy access, administrative and compliance burdens currently imposed by the Office of Management and Budget's...more
Note: This is the second article in our series on capturing industrial base funding from the U.S. Department of Defense In our last post, we discussed the Defense Production Act (DPA) and Technology Investment Agreement...more
3/22/2024
/ Competitive Bidding ,
Contract Terms ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Defense Production Act ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Research and Development ,
Statutory Requirements ,
Technology ,
Technology Sector
As in prior years, the upcoming end of the federal fiscal year will be marked by a flurry of contract and task order awards, as federal agencies busily obligate remaining fiscal year 2023 appropriated funds while still...more
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the federal government has committed to funding more than $1 trillion for projects involving construction, manufacturing and energy initiatives. Much of this funding will be...more
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its annual Bid Protest Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2022 on Nov. 1, 2022. The annual report is a requirement of the Competition in Contracting Act and an...more
U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia on Dec. 7, 2021, issued a preliminary injunction, halting the government's enforcement of the federal contractor vaccine mandate on all federal...more