On May 6, 2026, Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP); Office of Management and Budget (OMB); Department of Defense (DOD); General Services Administration (GSA); and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)...more
5/12/2026
/ Comment Period ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Joint Protocols ,
Native American Issues ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Tribal Corporations
On April 30, 2026, President Trump signed a new executive order, Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting, that makes fixed-price contracts — and in particular firm-fixed-price (FFP)...more
5/7/2026
/ Contract Terms ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fixed Price Contracts ,
Government Agencies ,
OMB ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Small Business
On April 22, 2026, the Department of the Air Force (DAF) issued a memorandum directing all DAF acquisition personnel to prioritize existing contract vehicles before initiating new procurements and to treat new standalone...more
5/1/2026
/ Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Memorandum of Guidance ,
Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) ,
New Guidance ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Small Business ,
US Air Force
This is the third update we are issuing regarding the March 26 Executive Order, Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors. Our first update analyzed the EO itself and its enforcement architecture. Our second...more
4/24/2026
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethnicity ,
Executive Authority ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
First Amendment ,
IBM ,
Native American Issues ,
Pending Litigation ,
Race Discrimination ,
Settlement ,
Tribal Corporations ,
Trump Administration ,
Ultra Vires ,
Unconstitutional Condition
On April 9, 2026, we issued an update on President Trump’s March 26, 2026 Executive Order, Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors, warning that the EO’s False Claims Act enforcement architecture, including its...more
4/14/2026
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Qui Tam ,
Title VII ,
Tribal Corporations ,
Tribal Governments ,
Whistleblowers
On March 26, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors. ...more
4/10/2026
/ Contract Terms ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Native American Issues ,
Qui Tam ,
Tribal Corporations ,
Trump Administration ,
Whistleblowers
On October 15, 2025, the reality for over 2,000 residents of Western Alaska changed overnight. Evacuees—mostly Yup’ik families from the Alaska Native villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok—boarded jets to Anchorage, Fairbanks,...more
In Mid-America Milling Company v. United States Department of Transportation, Case No. 3:23-cv-00072 (“Mid-America”), the Plaintiffs challenged the United States Department of Transportation’s (“DOT”) use of a rebuttable...more
3/26/2026
/ Article III ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
DBE Program ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Mootness ,
Native American Issues ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Rebuttable Presumptions ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Tribal Corporations
On March 19, 2026, the U.S. Small Business Administration published a direct final rule amending its Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act regulations at 13 CFR Part 142 to conform to the Administrative False Claims Act of 2023...more
3/24/2026
/ Comment Period ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
Fraud ,
New Regulations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SBA ,
Small Business ,
Statute of Limitations
On March 17, 2026, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) announced the audit and review priorities of the SBA’s Office of Inspector General. According to the SBA, the announced priorities “includes planned audits,...more
The Department of War’s Office of Industrial Base Growth has issued a data call inviting small businesses and nontraditional suppliers to share how their work supports mission success and national security. ANC and tribally...more
3/16/2026
/ 8(a) Program ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Deadlines ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
National Security ,
SBA ,
Small Business ,
Tribal Corporations ,
Tribal Governments
Alaska Native Corporations and their construction subsidiaries face significant new legal exposure under Section 3 of House Bill 260, now pending before the House Labor & Commerce Committee....more
3/16/2026
/ Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Corporate Liability ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint and Several Liability ,
Misclassification ,
Native American Issues ,
Pending Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Subcontractors ,
Tribal Governments ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Effective February 20, 2026, the SBA has stripped district offices and Business Opportunity Specialists of authority to approve or deny continued 8(a) program participation through annual reviews. All final determinations now...more
On March 4, 2026, the SBA announced that it had initiated termination proceedings against 628 firms in the 8(a) Business Development Program. These firms were among the 1,091 previously suspended on January 28, 2026, for...more
3/9/2026
/ 8(a) Program ,
Appeals ,
Contract Termination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Contractors ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SBA ,
Small Business ,
Suspensions & Debarments
The United States Department of Justice (“DoJ”) has issued its report on False Claim Act actions for 2025. ...more
2/5/2026
/ Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Defense Contracts ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Information Reports ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Qui Tam
In December 2025, the Department of Interior, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, announced a “targeted review” of the Federal Subsistence Management Program (the “Program”) created by the Alaska National...more
On January 22, 2026, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued a new “8(a) Program Mandate” that, according to the SBA, is intended to eliminate the use of any racial component to admission to the SBA’s 8(a) Program....more
On December 11, 2025, the Alaska Native organization Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, and environmental organizations Center for Biological Diversity and The Wilderness Society (together, “Plaintiffs”) sued the United...more
1/28/2026
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Alaska ,
Arctic Drilling ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Department of the Interior ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Mineral Exploration ,
Native American Issues ,
Oil & Gas ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Public Comment ,
Public Land ,
Tribal Governments
On January 16, 2026, Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth issued a directive to all Department of Defense agencies and departments to review all small business sole source awards and set-aside awards above $20 million in...more
1/27/2026
/ 8(a) Program ,
Audits ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Prime Contractor ,
Set-Aside Contracts ,
Small Business ,
Sole Source Contracts ,
Subcontractors ,
Termination for Convenience
On December 16, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service issued a Final Rule implementing section 139E-1 of the Internal Revenue Code and the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014. The rule governs when benefits provided...more
1/16/2026
/ Final Rules ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tribal Government Programs ,
Tribal Governments ,
U.S. Treasury
Given the new year, I thought it would be helpful to provide a summary of recent events involving the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and the SBA’s 8(a) Program. ...more
1/12/2026
/ 8(a) Program ,
Enforcement Actions ,
GAO ,
Government Agencies ,
OIG ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
SBA ,
Set-Asides ,
Small Business ,
Suspensions & Debarments ,
Tribal Corporations
As we have previously discussed, the Small Business Administration announced it will be conducting an audit of the 8(a) Program. The SBA’s focus on this audit might have increased due to efforts by Senator Joni Ernst, who...more
On November 12, 2025 Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) sent letters to the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) Administrator Loeffler and the SBA Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) attacking the SBA’s 8(a) program. ...more
12/1/2025
/ 8(a) Program ,
Audits ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Investigations ,
Moratorium ,
OIG ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SBA ,
Small Business
On February 4, 2022, then President Biden issued Executive Order 14063 (“EO 14063”), which requires all contractors and subcontractors who engage in large Federal construction projects—i.e., projects that are estimated to...more
11/11/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Construction Industry ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Pending Litigation ,
Project Labor Agreements ,
Public Projects ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Subcontractors
In Mid-America Milling Company v. United States Department of Transportation, Case No. 3:23-cv-00072 (“Mid-America”), the Plaintiffs challenged the United States Department of Transportation’s (“DOT”) use of a rebuttable...more
10/9/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
DBE Program ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Federal Funding ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Rebuttable Presumptions ,
Transportation Industry