At the end of 2024, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) published a plan (“Restoring Freedom’s Forge: American Innovation Unleashed”) and introduced a bill (the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense Act or FoRGED...more
4/25/2025
/ Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
National Security ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Supply Chain
The Federal Acquisition Regulation, initially issued on April 1, 1984, appears poised to be rewritten. Several online sources reference a GSA announcement posted on Friday, April 4, that supposedly heralded a bottom-up...more
The incoming Trump administration has sent many signals that it intends to ramp up the Department of Defense’s use of nontraditional acquisition pathways to bridge the “Valley of Death” and bring innovative technologies to...more
2/17/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
NASA ,
National Institute of Health (NIH) ,
National Security ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration ,
TSA
We continue our discussion of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) recent final rule on various small business programs. We previously discussed SBA’s changes to the effect of recertifications under multiple award...more
We continue our discussion of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) recent final rule on various small business programs. We previously discussed SBA’s changes to the effect of recertifications under multiple award...more
On January 8, 2025, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council withdrew a proposed rule that would have banned federal contractors and subcontractors from seeking or...more
1/10/2025
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NDAA ,
OFPP ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Subcontractors ,
Wage and Hour
We continue our discussion of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) recent final rule on various small business programs. Today, we focus on revisions to the regulations governing size protests and requests for formal...more
1/8/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Contract Terms ,
Deadlines ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
Government Agencies ,
HUBZone ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Protests ,
Recertification ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SBA ,
Set-Asides ,
Small Business
Buried in Section 885 of the current draft of the National Defense Authorization Action (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 is a new attempt to figure out how to make unsuccessful bid protesters pay. As of this posting, the NDAA has...more
In a lengthy and complex effort, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule on December 17, 2024, that amended many requirements related to small business contracting. As with most rules, there are some...more
12/19/2024
/ BPA ,
Buyers ,
Federal Contractors ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Investment ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Recertification ,
SBA ,
SDVOSB ,
Set-Aside Contracts ,
Shareholders ,
Small Business ,
Women-Owned Businesses
Nearly a year ago, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) no later than July 1, 2024, “to...more
On October 25, 2024, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a proposed rule to mandate a Rule of Two analysis for most task and delivery order competitions, except under Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts. ...more
The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) has yet again clarified that a company’s size change in connection with a merger-and-acquisition event generally does not prevent the company from...more
Is it finally time to fix the outdated, incomplete, and often misunderstood novation regulations? Maybe. On April 5, 2024, the FAR Council released a Notice and Request for Comments requesting comments from federal...more
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued a policy memorandum with a goal of promoting small business participation under multiple-award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts (MACs). One of the...more
Small business regulations create one of the stickier wickets in bid protest litigation. Although the Small Business Administration (SBA) has exclusive authority to determine a company’s size and socioeconomic status, the...more
In recent months, there have been a number of articles about an increase in venture capital interest in entities that do business with the federal government. In fact, this interest is not new. Small entities with venture...more
11/17/2023
/ Borrowers ,
Debt Securities ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Encumbrances ,
Investors ,
Liens ,
Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) ,
SBA ,
SBIRs ,
Startups ,
Venture Capital
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued a final rule amending its regulation on lower-tier small business subcontracting credit to account for statutory changes introduced in the National Defense Authorization Act...more
The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Information Security Oversight Office (ISSO) have issued a Joint Notice to clarify how Facility Security Clearances (FCLs) (also called Entity Eligibility Determinations, or...more
Recent changes to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) regulations affect how large businesses can take small business credit for subcontracting to their own mentor-protégé joint ventures (MPJVs). SBA’s final rule...more
On May 19, 2023, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) solicitation refresh 16, which introduced a formal offer process for joint ventures. To provide guidance on navigating those...more
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) finalized a rule to modernize the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program on July 17, 2023. Part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the new SBIC Investment...more
If you’ve been following the saga of the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center’s (NITAAC) Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners (CIO-SP4) procurement, you likely...more
Some of you may recall the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 from nearly a decade ago. It amended the Small Business Act (SBA) to allow a contractor, under certain circumstances, to receive...more
The System for Award Management website (SAM.gov) recently changed its registration and update process, and the feedback we’ve heard from clients is that it is slow – even for entities that are simply renewing an existing...more
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued an important new decision in the protest of AttainX,Inc ., B-421216, B-421216.2, Jan. 23, 2023, 2023 WL 1860802. The decision addresses how agencies must evaluate the...more