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
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
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
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 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
Generally speaking, the U.S. procurement system allows companies competing for U.S. government contracts broad rights to challenge contract awards, as well as the terms of solicitations. There are, however, restrictions...more
2/6/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
Coast Guard ,
Competition ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
GAO ,
Government Agencies ,
NASA ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Threshold Requirements
The first seven days of the Trump administration have brought new meaning to the saying that the only constant in government contracting is change. Multiple executive actions promise to be just the start of what is expected...more
“Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (Order) is one of President Trump’s most recent executive orders. The Order was signed on January 21, 2025. The Order revoked Executive Order EO11246...more
1/23/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Subcontractors ,
Title VII
On January 8, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a pre-award bid protest filed by Bass, Berry & Sims PLC (Bass Berry), which challenged the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers’ (FLETC or the Agency)...more
On November 13, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a protest by DecisionPoint Corporation concluding that when the Air Force determined EmeSec, a wholly owned subsidiary of DecisionPoint, was ineligible for...more
12/18/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Bid Protests ,
Bid Solicitation ,
CMMI ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
GAO ,
Mergers ,
SDVOSB ,
US Air Force
On November 5, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the president lacks the authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA or Act) to impose a $15 minimum wage on federal...more
12/4/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA) ,
Injunctions ,
Lack of Authority ,
Minimum Wage ,
Remand ,
Wage and Hour
After numerous fits and starts, on October 14, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a final rule implementing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. Borne from documented deficiencies in the...more
11/12/2024
/ Certifications ,
Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
NIST ,
Proposed Regulation
As we detailed in a previous blog, on October 3, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a strategic plan to “safeguard[] the integrity of HHS grants and contracts.” The...more
10/24/2024
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
Grants ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Care Violations ,
Medicare ,
Misrepresentation ,
OIG ,
Physicians ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Settlement ,
TRICARE
On October 3, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a strategic plan for improving oversight of public grants and contracts “to strengthen compliance with HHS award...more
On August 15, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a proposed rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate contractual requirements related to the proposed Cybersecurity...more
In addition to opening the door to possible awards under the government’s Other Transactions Authority (OTA), products and services provided by contractors that meet the definition of a Non-Traditional Defense Contractor...more