The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council recently issued its long-awaited final rule limiting the ability of civilian agencies to use the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) procurement method. The final FAR...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in BGT Holdings LLC v. United States, 1 recently held that the government does not have the discretion to deny a contractor's request for equitable adjustment (REA) under...more
In NIKA Technologies v. U.S., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently reversed the holding of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims regarding when the protest-filing clock starts running for a stay of contract...more
New York state’s budget is the second largest in the country, and with it, New York has some of the most developed state acquisition laws and procedures in the country. Accordingly, New York provides comparatively robust bid...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in BGT Holdings LLC v. United States, recently held that the government does not have the discretion to deny a contractor’s request for equitable adjustment (REA) under...more
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued to Congress its annual bid protest report.
As discussed below, this year's report is noteworthy for multiple reasons, including that it shows that protesters...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it obtained more than $2.2 billion in False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments in the fiscal year ending September 29, 2020.
Notably, DOJ reports that...more
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued to Congress its annual bid protest report. As discussed below, this year’s report is noteworthy for multiple reasons, including that it shows that protesters received...more
A few months ago, we wrote about how the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) had defined when the protest clock starts running for a stay of contract performance pending a bid protest if the Department of Defense’s (DOD)...more
12/14/2020
/ Appeals ,
Bid Protests ,
COFC ,
Construction Contracts ,
Debriefing ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Contractors ,
GAO ,
NDAA ,
Oral Argument ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
The Department of Defense (DoD) continues to enhance cybersecurity requirements in its supply chain. A new rule requires some contractors to assign a numerical score to their current cybersecurity practices. Additionally, the...more
11/13/2020
/ Certification Requirements ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
NIST ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Supply Chain
As a result of increased government spending at the end of the government's fiscal year — the 12-month period beginning on Oct. 1 and ending on Sept. 30 — the number of bid protest filings peaks in October. Accordingly,...more
A recent interim rule from the Department of Defense (DoD) would create a new self-assessment methodology for the cybersecurity requirements in NIST SP 800-171. The same rule also would implement the Cybersecurity Maturity...more
As we noted recently, the number of bid protest filings peaks in October as a result of increased government spending at the end of the government’s fiscal year, which ends September 30. Thus, our previous article provided a...more
As a result of increased government spending at the end of the government’s fiscal year — which is the 12-month period beginning on October 1 and ending on September 30 — the number of bid protest filings peaks in October....more
Fans of the classic 1960s cartoon series Rocky and Bullwinkle may recall two minor characters, Chauncey and Edgar, who commented on the action by saying something like this: “Now there’s something you don’t see every day,...more
9/14/2020
/ Bid Protests ,
COFC ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Contractors ,
GAO ,
Licensing Rules ,
Motion To Intervene ,
State and Local Government ,
State Licenses ,
Subcontractors ,
Vendors
To “combat the national security and intellectual property threats that face the United States,” section 889(a)(1)(B) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2019 (Pub. L. 115-232) prohibits executive...more
We previously reported on a series of issues arising from the CARES Act and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that uniquely impact government contractors. We have cautioned that government contractors should be mindful of the...more
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued its annual procurement scorecard showing how well federal agencies fared in Fiscal Year 2019 with respect to their small business and socio-economic prime...more
President Trump recently signed an Executive Order focused on a government-wide review of federal contractors’ hiring and staffing practices, specifically taking aim at the H-1B visa program. The Executive Order states that...more
The Miller Act protects subcontractors from nonpayment on federal projects by requiring prime contractors to issue payment bonds. To obtain relief under the Miller Act, a subcontractor must (1) give the prime contractor...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. John C. Grimberg Co., Inc., recently reversed an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) decision that a federal contractor was...more
The Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications for the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP) in 2016 and has seen a surge in applications in each successive year.
Under the ASMPP, any small...more
We recently reported on a series of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) issues that uniquely impact government contractors. As we noted, particularly concerning for federal contractors is that agencies may seek credits or...more
Many federal contractors have already taken advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was established by the CARES Act to help small businesses and other eligible applicants survive the economic impact of the...more
With the challenges presented by the recent and rapid spread of COVID-19 in the United States, it is only a matter of time before the government begins terminating certain federal contracts for the convenience of the...more