Latest Publications

Share:

GSA’s Transactional Data Reporting Rule Set to Expand Amid OIG Worries

The General Services Administration (GSA) is scheduled to expand a 2016 rule this November, but faces significant opposition from within its own agency due to questionable data from a pilot program. On June 23, 2016, GSA...more

DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program May Be Getting a Facelift

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Mentor-Protégé program (MPP) was designed to strengthen the capabilities of small businesses, increase their participation in the DoD contract pool, and contribute to “the diversity and...more

CBCA Opinion Provides Clarity on Anti-Assignment Act’s Murky “Operation of Law” Exception

The Anti-Assignment Act, referring to both the Assignment of Contracts Act and Assignment of Claims Act, which prohibits the assignment of government contracts and claims, respectively, has had a fairly uneven applicatory...more

Chipping Away at Trade: New Tool Could Bring Big Changes

On August 9, President Biden plans to sign the CHIPS and Science Act into law in the White House Rose Garden. The bill provides $52.7 billion in subsidies and incentives to domestic semiconductor manufacturers to strengthen...more

New Certification Process for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses

On July 6, the SBA issued a proposed rule that would implement Section 862 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 establishing a government-wide certification process for Veteran Owned Small Businesses...more

Responsibility vs. Responsiveness: A Critical Difference Saves Flawed Initial Bid

As a general matter, an agency should reject a bid out of hand if it is deemed defective due to problems with bidder responsiveness. However, flawed bids determined on account of issues with bidder responsibility can be...more

SBA Enlarges Small Business Pool through New Rule Change

On June 6, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule modifying its methodology for calculating the size of small businesses using an employee-based size standard and authorizes businesses participating...more

Buyer Beware: Settling FCA Allegations Costs Manufacturer $5.2 Million

Numet Machining Techniques, a Connecticut-based machined parts manufacturer for commercial and military aerospace engines, recently agreed to pay $5.2 million to settle alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) for...more

Broad Agency Discretion to Cancel Bid Solicitations Curtailed with Recent Court Decision – “The Tribe has Spoken”

Generally, government agencies are given broad discretion to define their needs; however, last month, the United States Court of Federal Claims chose to curtail an agency’s authority to cancel and amend bid solicitations in...more

DoD Publishes Final Rule Redesignating Contracts Previously Awarded Under FAR Part 12 Guidelines as Commercial Item Determinations...

The Department of Defense (DoD) recently issued a final rule implementing Section 828 of the NDAA for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, requiring the treatment of the majority of contracts for items awarded using Federal Acquisition...more

PCSF Strikes Again: Scheme to Rig Bids Results in Federal Grand Jury Indictment

Last month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a Florida grand jury indicted three men for conspiring to rig bids for customized promotional products to the U.S. Army and charged two of them with conspiring to...more

New FOIA Guidelines Favor Transparency

In a memorandum circulated during “National Sunshine Week” celebrating the importance of open government, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed heads of executive agencies and departments to favor transparency and...more

Biden’s “Clean Energy” Directive’s Impact on Government Contractors

On December 8, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 14057 “Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability.” The EO is the administration’s most recent effort to achieve “a carbon...more

OFCCP’s New Affirmative Action Program Oversight Tool

A 2016 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report noted that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) did not have an official method of validating contractors’ affirmative action plans or programs (AAP)...more

DoD Scraps CMMC 1.0 for CMMC 2.0

For nearly two years, we have been reporting on this blog about the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. CMMC is a training, certification, and third-party assessment...more

Advancing the “Made-in-America” Movement

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) that President Biden signed on November 15, expands the provisions supporting American manufacturing through federal procurement. The IIJA statutory directives...more

Not Quite Good Enough: COFC Finds Agencies OCI Investigations Fall Short

Organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) are troubling for both the government and contractors. Under FAR 2.101, an OCI is a situation where “a person is unable or potentially unable to render impartial assistance or advice...more

Buy American Baby Steps: FAR Council Publishes Proposed Rule Implementing Part of President Biden’s Executive Order

The FAR Council recently published its proposed rule to implement a part of President Biden’s January 28, 2021 Executive Order No. 14005 (EO 14005), which dictated certain revisions to the Buy American Act (BAA) regulations....more

COFC: “Rule of Two” Must Be Analyzed Before “Any” Acquisition

The Court of Federal Claims (COFC) recently affirmed that agencies are required to apply the “Rule of Two” to all federal acquisitions in its decision of Tolliver Grp., Inc. v. United States. Further, agencies must give a...more

Size Recertification Prior to Award – When is it Required?

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) decision in HWI Gear, Inc. v. United States highlights the importance of reviewing a solicitation to determine if the text of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.219-28 is included...more

Federal Circuit Confirms DoD Contractor’s Expanded Restrictions on Non-Government Parties Rights in Data

Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s (Federal Circuit) opinion in The Boeing Co. v. Secretary of the Air Force shed additional light on the technical data rights of contractors under defense...more

Bye Bye 8(a) MPP and Hello to New Small Business Rules!

In October, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule entitled “Consolidation of Mentor-Protégé Programs and Other Government Contracting Amendments,” which went into effect on November 16, 2020....more

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t: What Happens When a Bidder’s Corporate Entity Changes during a Bid?

On September 24, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied DynCorp International, LLC’s (DynCorp) protest of the Department of the Army’s award of a global intelligence logistics support task order to CACI...more

It’s Here! DoD Issues Interim Rule Launching Two Cyber Assessment Programs

For over a year, we have been discussing the Department of Defense’s (DoD) eventual implementation of a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program for Defense contractors, most recently during a webinar in...more

Recent Decision Impacts Complete Successor-In-Interest Claims

We recently wrote about the impacts of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on pending bids in Bloomberg Law and our GovCon & Trade Blog. A key point discussed in both articles is that a bidding company’s buyer may not have...more

129 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 6

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide