On April 29, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied Davenergy-VCI JV, LLC’s protest of a solicitation’s cancellation, holding that the lack of available funding is sufficient grounds to cancel. In denying the...more
On May 19, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the launch of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative (the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative), which will use the federal False Claims Act (FCA) to pursue claims against recipients...more
5/22/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Fraud ,
Government Agencies ,
Investigations ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trump Administration ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On May 7, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) dismissed a protest challenging the terms of a solicitation for being unduly restrictive. The protest highlights three important considerations that contractors should...more
One of President Trump’s campaign themes was ending diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) programs, and he moved quickly to address those campaign promises. Within days of his inauguration, the president issued two executive...more
On April 14, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly ruled, in relevant part, that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) cannot require federal grant recipients to certify that their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)...more
Through a duo of Executive Orders (EOs), issued on April 15 and 16 respectively, President Trump announced “a first-of-its-kind overhaul of Federal procurement policy.” The rewrite represents a once-in-a-generation...more
On April 2, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed a whistleblower’s False Claims Act (FCA) action after the relator attempted to dismiss the government as a plaintiff-intervenor in...more
According to an April 1 Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, DRI Relays Inc. (DRI), a subsidiary of TE Connectivity Corporation (TEC) and manufacturer of electrical relays and sockets used on military platforms, agreed...more
On January 24, the SBA announced updated small business contracting goals for fiscal year 2025, significantly decreasing some goals and standardizing targets across federal agencies. These changes bring the small business...more
As many of our readers know, the ostensible subcontractor rule is one way in which the Small Business Administration (SBA) can find affiliation between a small business and one of its subcontractors, potentially resulting in...more
On March 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal, terminating a Maryland district court’s injunction of certain elements of President Trump’s January 20...more
3/18/2025
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fifth Amendment ,
First Amendment ,
Injunctions ,
Trump Administration
On February 26, GAO denied the protest of Mission Analytics, Inc., challenging the award of a small business set-aside contract to ThunderCat Technology, LLC, explaining that “it is a firm’s responsibility to submit a...more
Following U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) lead, which we wrote about here, on March 4, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Class Deviation—Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity in Federal Contracts—directing DoD...more
As the Trump administration continues to eliminate federal positions and reduce contract and grant outlays, many private companies will likely be eyeing current and former government employees for employment over the coming...more
3/6/2025
/ Compliance ,
DFARS ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Ethics ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration
On March 3 Judge Abelson of the U.S. District Court for the District or Maryland denied the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal of the preliminary injunction halting the termination of equity-related federal grants...more
On February 24, Judge Armando Bonilla of the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) declined to dismiss a challenge to a $648 million award under a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) development deal, finding that the court had...more
3/3/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
COFC ,
Contract Terms ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Government Agencies ,
Jurisdiction ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Regulatory Requirements
Over the first month of the new administration, President Trump has directed the review or termination of certain types of contracts and grants, including equity-related agreements, awards under the Inflation Reduction Act...more
3/3/2025
/ Compliance ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraudulent Procurement ,
Government Agencies ,
Grants ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
USAID
On February 21, the Maryland District Court issued an injunction prohibiting the administration from implementing requirements in Executive Order (EO) 14151, Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and...more
On February 15, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced two new “class deviations” (CDs) making a number of changes to the procurement rules applicable to GSA solicitations and contracts, including leases of...more
On February 4, the Fifth Circuit Court overturned a September 2023 order from a Texas trial court finding President Biden lacked the authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA or Act) to...more
2/13/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA) ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Wage and Hour
On January 21, in MVL, Inc., et al. v. United States, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) struck down a 2022 Executive Order (EO), as well as the implementing Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), signed by then-President...more
2/12/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
Biden Administration ,
CICA ,
COFC ,
Competition ,
Construction Industry ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Project Labor Agreements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trump Administration
Note: This post was updated with new information on February 13, 2025.
On February 7, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued Supplemental Guidance to its 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement, Indirect Cost Rates,...more
As we reported previously, President Trump’s January 21 Executive Order (EO) 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” terminated certain affirmative action requirements applicable to...more
2/10/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Attorney General ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Trump Administration
In 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) provided useful insights to the healthcare industry regarding how it approaches various fraud and abuse issues in an...more
2/7/2025
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Billing ,
Compliance ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
OIG ,
Risk Management ,
Settlement ,
Stark Law ,
Telehealth
In addition to the Trump administration’s general freeze on most grant funding, which was rescinded as well as enjoined by federal district courts in Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., the new administration yesterday took...more