On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post that he had directed the Department of Defense to designate AI company Anthropic a "Supply-Chain Risk to National Security." ...more
On February 2, 2026, in United States v. McComber, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a criminal conviction arising from overbilling on a federal government contract—characterizing the conduct as...more
2/19/2026
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Suspensions & Debarments
Last week, we noted that the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) had published a proposal to update federal grantees' standard certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM) to "align with" the U.S. Department...more
2/17/2026
/ Comment Period ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
National Security ,
Proposed Rules ,
SAM
On behalf of granting agencies, the administering agency of the System for Award Management (SAM), the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), announced its intent to change how financial assistance recipients certify...more
2/4/2026
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Certification Requirements ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
System For Award Management (SAM)
Decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court from the 1970s and 1980s recognized a narrow exception to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under which employers may, in limited circumstances, consider legally protected...more
1/27/2026
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Grants ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII
The Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) generally prohibits federal employees from knowingly disclosing contractor bid or proposal information before the award of a "Federal agency procurement contract to which the information...more
1/22/2026
/ Appeals ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Contract Management ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) ,
Public Employees ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Trade Secrets
On December 18, 2025, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. The NDAA authorizes the Department of War (DOW) to spend $900 billion on a variety of program priorities. ...more
On January 7, 2026, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) and fact sheet that, if fully implemented, will impose consequences on federal defense contractors determined to be "underperforming" or not in compliance...more
1/9/2026
/ Business Profits ,
Corporate Governance ,
Defense Production Act ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Compensation ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Share Buybacks ,
Trump Administration
As we have covered in previous client alerts, in February 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) asserted a policy of capping indirect cost rates for federal grantees at 15 percent. ...more
1/9/2026
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Appropriations Bill ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Grants ,
National Institute of Health (NIH) ,
OMB ,
Payment Caps ,
Statutory Interpretation
A short provision in the House and Senate Armed Services Committees’ “final negotiated language for” the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) could have significant implications for the U.S....more
12/17/2025
/ Audits ,
Congressional Committees ,
Contract Terms ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
House Armed Services Committee ,
Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) ,
NDAA ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Armed Services Committee ,
Statutory Interpretation
Early this week, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees released the final negotiated language of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (FY26 NDAA), which the House promptly passed on December 10. ...more
On December 8, 2025, the U.S. House and Senate Armed Services Committees released the text of “the final negotiated language for” the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026 (FY26). ...more
12/10/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
Congressional Committees ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
GAO ,
NDAA ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Proposed Rules
This alert serves to remind contractors of the much-ballyhooed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and updates our previous articles on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) proposed CMMC Program rule and DoD’s...more
Since January 20, 2025, a number of grant recipients have filed lawsuits challenging the federal government's decisions to withhold funding and/or terminate grant agreements. In many cases, grantees have alleged that the...more
10/6/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Contract Termination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
First Amendment ,
Government Agencies ,
Trump Administration ,
Unconstitutional Condition
As we have noted in recent client alerts, we have arrived at the end of a fiscal year in which there have been numerous policy-based program reductions and grant terminations across federally funded sectors. ...more
10/2/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appropriations Bill ,
COFC ,
Continuing Resolution ,
Contract Termination ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
Government Agencies ,
Grants ,
OMB ,
Separation of Powers ,
Statutory Interpretation
The Department of Defense (DoD) recently finalized a new rule, to be codified at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.204-7021 (contract clause) and 252.204-7025 (solicitation provision), which will...more
Nonprofits and other federal grant recipients have struggled through 2025, a year of fiscal tightening in federal grant programs, from the termination of numerous grants and programs the current administration perceives as...more
9/10/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
Foreign Aid ,
GAO ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Review ,
Nonprofits ,
Public Broadcasting ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Stays ,
USAID
A wave of executive orders from the Trump administration is rapidly reshaping the landscape for federal contractors, with sweeping changes to U.S. foreign aid, diversity initiatives, and gender policy....more
4/7/2025
/ Contract Disputes ,
Contract Termination ,
Contract Terms ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Management ,
Stop Work Orders ,
Trump Administration
On January 29, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescinded M-25-13, which it had issued two days earlier, and which required federal agencies to "temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or...more
Federal programs often require individuals employed by multiple corporations and by the federal government to work together. To ensure the project is successful, the prime contract and any related subcontract will often grant...more
Federal contracts famously include a clause permitting the government to terminate the agreement for the government's own "convenience"—even if the contractor did not default on its performance obligations. Aware of this...more
Congress is on the cusp of finalizing the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and sending it to the President for his signature. The compromise version of the bill recently released by the House Armed Services...more
On September 17, 2024, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the General Services Administration (GSA) released its Audit Plan for the 2025 fiscal year, which includes, among other activities, certain, and potentially...more
Under the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (CICA), awarding a contract under the U.S. General Services Administration's (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) is a competitive procedure—so long as the MAS program is...more
Contractors frequently rely on “shared services” agreements or “interorganizational transfers” with their corporate parents, subsidiaries, and sister companies when performing work for the federal government. These...more