On April 22, 2024, the U.S. government issued a final rule ("Rule") to restructure and update the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR") to implement a requirement for agencies to procure sustainable products and services to...more
5/7/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
ENERGY STAR Program ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
Goods or Services ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Sustainability
In Short: -
The Situation: The United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") recently issued statistics and a related press release regarding its fiscal year ("FY") 2022 enforcement activity under the False Claims Act...more
In response to pressure from Congress, OFCCP has extended the deadline for contractors to object to disclosure of EEO-1 reports and opened the door for new objections....more
The U.S. Department of Justice announces an initiative targeting cybersecurity-related fraud by government contractors and grant recipients.
On October 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") announced a new Civil...more
A recent action by the Department of Justice ("DOJ") rescinds two prior policies (commonly referred to as the Brand Memo and the Sessions Memo) that had established limits on the federal government's use of agency guidance...more
The Biden administration's newly proposed rule would increase Buy American Act requirements and impose new reporting obligations. On July 30, 2021, the Biden administration issued a proposed rule to amend the Federal...more
The Situation: A new line of qui tam cases predicated on alleged human trafficking violations has begun to emerge.
The Result: Potential exposure to qui tam claims heightens the risk of allegations of human trafficking...more
The Situation: Challenges to the scope of an agency's corrective action are notoriously hard to win at the U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") because of the high level of deference normally afforded to agencies in...more
The Situation: The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") recently sustained a bid protest concluding that a company was ineligible for award because of "key personnel unavailability." Although the employee remained...more
The Situation: The Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee ("ISDC") recently issued its annual report on government suspension and debarment activity to Congress for fiscal year 2018.
The Result: The report shows a...more
The Situation: The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") recently released its annual Bid Protest Report.
The Result: The report contains a wealth of information about bid protests, including statistics and...more
The Situation: The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") dismissed a protest challenging a contractor's exclusion from the competitive range based upon the contractor's failure to diligently pursue a debriefing....more
The Situation: The U.S. Department of Defense has faced criticism from the Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office concerning its handling of commercial item procurements.
The Response: As a...more
The Situation: The False Claims Act imposes civil liability on any person or entity that "knowingly presents, or causes to be presented" to the U.S. government "a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval."
The...more
1/25/2018
/ Conditions of Payment ,
Failure To Disclose ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Implied Certification Theory ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health Care Providers ,
Implied Certification ,
Materiality ,
Qui Tam ,
SCOTUS ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar
The Situation: The Government Accountability Office publishes an annual report detailing bid protest activity for the prior fiscal year.
The Result: The fiscal year 2017 report shows that the sustain rate for bid protests...more
The Situation: GAO sustained a protest challenging a task order award where the awardee's proposal included letters of intent that mentioned an arbitration agreement that was required as a condition of employment.
The...more
In 2014, the U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") sustained a protest by Paradigm Technologies, Inc., challenging the award of a contract to an offeror, where its proposed contract program manager (a key personnel...more
In our December 2016 Commentary on the "Government Contracts Ramifications of the Trump Election" and our January 2017 update, we predicted that the Trump Administration would seek to strengthen domestic preferences in...more
5/4/2017
/ Buy America ,
Buy American Act ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Public Interest Waivers ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
Steel Industry ,
Subcontractors ,
Supply Chain ,
Trump Administration ,
USTR ,
WTO