“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 April 22, the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) promulgated a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement an...more
On April 27, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule which, effective May 30, will make a number of changes to the SBA regulations impacting small businesses. The regulations, finalizing the proposed rule...more
5/26/2023
/ 8(a) Program ,
Certifications ,
Final Rules ,
Joint Venture ,
Mergers ,
Notice of Non-Compliance ,
Penalties ,
Proposed Rules ,
SBA ,
Small Business ,
Subcontractors ,
Subcontracts
On December 19, 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a proposed rule that would amend the SBA regulations to implement Section 870 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2020. Section 870...more
Over the last few years, the government has shifted away from lowest price technically acceptable valuations placing a larger importance on past performance. The past performance requirement can sometimes create obstacles for...more
2/21/2023
/ Bid Protests ,
Bids ,
Business Development ,
Contract Terms ,
Federal Contractors ,
GAO ,
Joint Venture ,
Mentor-Protege Program ,
Prime Contractor ,
Small Business ,
Solicitation ,
Subcontractors
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has an interesting construction. With seemingly no competition to bring size protests and the successful completion of a previous grant before a second grant, the unusual...more
1/13/2023
/ Appeals ,
Clawbacks ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Contractors ,
Funding ,
Joint Venture ,
Reauthorization ,
SBA ,
SBIRs ,
Small Business ,
Subcontractors
Unprecedented inflation levels have caused substantial hardship on government contractors during the last year – especially those with firm fixed-price contracts. Fortunately, meaningful help may be on its way. The Senate...more
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
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
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
December of 2018 brought many potential changes to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) regulations that impact small businesses. First, on December 4, 2018, the SBA issued a lengthy proposed rule implementing...more
1/11/2019
/ Federal Contractors ,
Independent Contractors ,
NAICS ,
NDAA ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Recertification ,
SBA ,
Set-Aside Contracts ,
Small Business ,
Subcontractors ,
Trump Administration
Teaming Arrangements under the FAR -
Under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 9.6, a contractor teaming arrangement is when:
1. Two or more companies form a partnership or joint venture to act as a potential prime...more
Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington denied a motion to limit damages against a government contractor, United States ex rel. Savage v. Washington Closure Hanford LLC, where the government...more
9/25/2017
/ Benefit Off-Sets ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Contract Terms ,
Damage Caps ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False-Certification of Conformance ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Nuclear Waste ,
Site Remediation ,
Subcontractors ,
WOSB