On June 6, 2025, President Trump issued a new executive order, “Sustaining Select Efforts to Strengthen the Nation’s Cybersecurity and Amending Executive Order 13694 and Executive Order 14144” (EO), signaling the construction...more
6/16/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Encryption ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Information Technology ,
Internet of Things ,
National Security Agency (NSA) ,
NIST ,
Software Developers ,
Supply Chain
The Department of Defense (DoD) is revving its engines again—this time to rocket past its own software acquisition drag. Launched via an April 24 memo from Acting DoD CIO Katie Arrington, the DoD’s Software Fast Track (SWFT)...more
6/13/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Fast Track Process ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Government Agencies ,
Risk Management ,
Software ,
Supply Chain ,
Transparency
On April 15, 2025, President Trump issued a sweeping executive order (EO), “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement.” As reflected in its accompanying Fact Sheet, the EO promises to rewrite the Federal Acquisition...more
On April 15, 2025, the Department of Defense (DoD) released official guidance on Organizationally Defined Parameters (ODPs) appearing in the newly published NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3. At the same time, the DoD reaffirmed...more
4/28/2025
/ Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Contracts ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
New Guidance ,
NIST ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Subcontractors ,
Supply Chain
As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, many of us are on the lookout for four-leaf clovers, a pot of gold, or perhaps even a mischievous leprechaun guarding his treasure. But in the world of government contracting, the real...more
After years of anticipation, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council has announced the arrival of its proposed rule to enhance the safeguarding of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in federal contracts (the...more
1/17/2025
/ Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Employee Training ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NARA ,
NIST ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Management ,
Software ,
Subcontractors ,
Supply Chain ,
System For Award Management (SAM)
Contractors interested in offering federal agencies artificial intelligence (AI) can now glean insight into how agencies are expected to conduct AI acquisitions. On September 24, 2024, the Office of Management and Budget...more
10/30/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Executive Orders ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Governance Standards ,
Guidance Update ,
Information Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
OMB ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Transparency
Some might say there’s little difference between dealing with the devil and being a federal contractor. And for the unwary or unprepared, that may not be far off. Federal contracting comes with a litany of “fine print” that...more
9/5/2024
/ Chief Information Officers (CIO) ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DFARS ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Information Technology ,
Relators ,
Risk Management ,
Whistleblowers
On May 14, 2024, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) dropped the third remix…er, revision…of its Special Publication (SP) 800-171, “Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems...more
On December 26, 2023, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) belatedly gifted defense contractors and subcontractors a Proposed Rule on the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”) Program. DoD also released eight CMMC...more
2/14/2024
/ Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Contracts ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NIST ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Subcontractors
Scenario 1: A pharmacy chain hires a value consultant to review its Medicare and Medicaid billing practices for ways to optimize the coding of drug reimbursements to maximize profits. Drugs that had historically been charged...more
2/3/2023
/ Billing ,
CFOs ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Reimbursements ,
SCOTUS
Regardless of whether they were eagerly anticipated or begrudgingly unavoidable, the changes promised to the Buy American Act (BAA) early last year have at last arrived, or at least are quickly approaching. On March 4, 2022,...more
With Spring Training just a few weeks away it looks like the Biden Administration is stepping up to the plate to ensure the plans in its $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act can avoid strikes. On February 4,...more
After months of review, on November 4, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD) finally unveiled its new version of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC 2.0). Well, almost. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment,...more
Four memoranda, released in the last several business days, provide federal contracting officers guidance and suggested clauses to implement President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 (the Executive Order) in federal contracts...more
10/7/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Joe Biden ,
OMB ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations
As COVID-19 antibodies begin flooding the immune systems of most Americans, it is important to remember the important role that hygiene has played over the past fifteen months. For many, the risks and dangers of the pandemic...more
6/16/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Business Associates Agreement (BAA) ,
Buy American Act ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Information Technology ,
Joe Biden ,
Masks ,
Sanitation ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Agreements Act ,
Trading Advisory Agreements (TAAs) ,
U.S. Commerce Department
As has been widely reported, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning of mass protests and potential violence accompanying the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. However, unlike...more
Like the hits produced by DJ Khaled, the FAR Council offers “another one.” As covered extensively in this blog, federal contractors have been—or should have been (you have been working toward compliance, haven’t...more
Like the sailors of old, the government contracting community ventures forth knowing full well that danger lies ahead – although fortunately not in the form of a kraken, leviathan, or other mythical sea monster. Rather,...more
When entering a casino, professional gamblers understand that “the house doesn’t beat the player. It just gives him the opportunity to beat himself.” This axiom is precisely why in the long run casinos make money, while...more
On Friday, March 20, 2020, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Memorandum No. M-20-18, titled “Managing Federal Contract Performance Issues Associated With The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).” The Memorandum,...more
Cough…cough…ahem…cough… Any contractor who has had the misfortune of dealing with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) likely knows all too well that the agency is the Will Rogers of costs – it never met a cost it didn’t...more
Here we are again. Large swaths of the federal government have been closed since December 22 because Congress and the president cannot agree on legislation to fund the government. Nearly a million federal employees are not...more
Carrier. UTC. Boeing. Swamp-draining rhetoric. While many ponder what America can expect from the next administration, one thing is clear – it appears to have its eyes on government contractors. However, it is important for...more