On February 26, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“EO”) that states that it “commences a transformation in Federal spending on contracts, grants, and loans to ensure Government spending is transparent and...more
The Trump administration’s directives to “pause” grant funding and to terminate certain grants and contracts sent shock waves through the government contracts and non-profit sectors. Although the “pause” in grant funding has...more
On August 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of State (“State”) announced a broad exemption from export licensing requirements for most defense trade between and among “authorized users” in the United States, Australia, and the...more
As a next step in the U.S. government’s implementation of the trilateral AUKUS security pact with Australia and the United Kingdom (“UK”), the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) and the...more
2023 is shaping up to be a major year in False Claims Act (“FCA”) practice, with the Supreme Court weighing in on both FCA scienter (in SuperValu) and the reach of the government’s dismissal authority (in Polansky), and the...more
Building on recent and ongoing efforts to limit Chinese government access to government contractor supply chains, the FAR Councils published an interim rule effective June 2, 2023, that will broadly ban TikTok on contractor...more
We wrote earlier this year about the growing web of regulation and enforcement attention around export controls. In another key development in this area, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”)...more
For over 18 months, the Biden Administration has discussed incorporating certain climate-change measures into the federal procurement system. A recent proposed rule forecasts where the Administration may be headed. In a...more
Building on recent national security initiatives to shore up the protection of U.S. critical assets from strategic adversaries (notably including China and Russia), Congress is considering new government powers to review...more
Stay up to date by subscribing to our blog. Add your e-mail address to the Subscribe box on the right to get our timely posts delivered directly to your inbox. Scott Arnold, Justin A. Chiarodo, Stephanie M. Harden,...more
Yesterday the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Executive Order (“EO”) 14042, under which prime contractors and subcontractors are required to...more
On November 4, 2021, the White House issued a fact sheet addressing its vaccination policies, including the government contractor mandate under EO 14042. Three key points stand out: (1) the compliance deadline for “full...more
Yesterday, November 1, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued significant new guidance for contractors implementing vaccine mandates. The two key takeaways are: (1) contractors are not required to terminate...more
Texas Governor Greg Abbott just raised the stakes in the inevitable tide of litigation about President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates by issuing an Executive Order banning vaccine mandates in Texas. We expect other states...more
It has been a busy week on the federal contractor COVID-19 vaccine mandate front. We answer questions below about the new class deviations that should start showing up in new contracts and solicitations, and key open issues...more
Answering some questions and raising others, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued its highly anticipated COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors on Friday, September 24. The...more
“If you want to work with the federal government, do business with us? Get vaccinated” – President Biden, White House Remarks, September 9, 2021 -
We forecast in March (Will Federal Contractors Be Required to Certify...more
The authors provide a roadmap for contractors to consider to recoup costs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Does the mere existence of a deadly epidemic entitle a contractor to monetary relief when it experiences cost...more
As directed in President Biden’s January 25, 2021, Executive Order we discussed six months ago, last week the FAR Council proposed increases to the Buy American Act (“BAA”) domestic content requirements, and previewed...more
Does the mere existence of a deadly epidemic entitle a contractor to monetary relief when it experiences cost increases stemming from that epidemic? Not without Government direction, ruled the Federal Circuit in affirming a...more
Companies providing information technology products and services to U.S. government agencies are now required to notify such agencies of cyber incidents and meet specific cybersecurity standards. The executive order attempts...more
About two months have passed since the August 13, 2020, effective date of Part B of Section 889 of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Part B, sometimes referred to as the Chinese telecommunications equipment ban,...more
We previously discussed key elements of the newly released interim rule (“the interim rule” or “the rule”) implementing Part B of Section 889 (“Part B”), which prohibits the federal government from contracting with entities...more
On July 10, the government issued the long-awaited Interim Rule implementing Part B of Section 889 (here is a link to the pre-publication version, with the official version soon to follow). Part B prohibits the federal...more
In remarks to Congress and statements this week, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) announced that it is considering a one-year delay for full implementation of Part B of the Section 889 ban (we previously summarized the ban,...more