NASA announced on March 17, 2020, that, “[e]ffective immediately, all [NASA] employees and contractors will move to mandatory telework until further notice” as a result of the COVID-19 (the coronavirus) pandemic, and that...more
With the recent and rapid spread of COVID-19 in the United States, it is only a matter of time before government contractors experience contract-performance delays — whether ordered by the government or not — that inevitably...more
3/13/2020
/ Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Delays ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Performance Standards ,
Quarantine ,
State of Emergency ,
Subcontractors ,
Suspensions ,
Work Suspensions
A recent bid protest appeal decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit — XOtech, LLC v. United States — provides clear guidance on what it means to “control” a service-disabled veteran-owned small business...more
A series of recent developments — including the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) formation of a Procurement Collusion Strike Force and report that “procurement fraud” recoveries comprised the second largest category of False...more
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently published a list of frequently asked questions (with the SBA’s answers) about recent changes to the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (or HUBZone) program, which is...more
Family-owned businesses are often owned and controlled by family trusts. Trusts are used by families for estate planning, tax planning and asset protection. Family-owned government contractors with trust ownership structures...more
1/21/2020
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Estate Planning ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Family Businesses ,
Family Trusts ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
New Guidance ,
SAM ,
Tax Planning ,
Trusts
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it obtained more than $3 billion in False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2019.
Notably, DOJ reports that “matters that...more
1/13/2020
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Defense Contracts ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraudulent Procurement ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
NASA ,
Settlement Agreements ,
USPS
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), in accordance with the Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018, recently issued its much-anticipated final rule to modify its method for calculating average annual receipts...more
The Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee (ISDC) recently issued its annual report to Congress on federal government suspension and debarment activities for fiscal year (FY) 2018. As discussed below, this year’s ISDC...more
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a proposed rule “to merge the 8(a) Business (BD) Mentor-Protégé Program and the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program to eliminate confusion and remove unnecessary...more
11/15/2019
/ 8(a) Program ,
EDWOSB ,
Federal Contractors ,
HUBZone ,
Joint Venture ,
Mentor-Protege Program ,
Proposed Rules ,
SBA ,
SDVOSB ,
Small Business ,
VOSB ,
WOSB
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued to Congress its annual bid protest report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. As discussed below, this year’s report is particularly noteworthy for multiple reasons, including...more
President Trump signed an Executive Order on October 31, 2019, revoking “Executive Order 13495 of January 30, 2009 (Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts), which requires that successor Federal...more
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in TeamWendy, LLC, B-417700.2 (Oct. 16, 2019), recently clarified the scope of its authority to review bid protests involving the addition of products or services to the AbilityOne...more
The Department of Defense (DOD) recently promulgated a final rule limiting the DOD’s ability to use the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) method of procurement. The final rule — which took effect on October 1, 2019,...more
On October 1, 2019, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued its much-anticipated consolidated schedule solicitation, merging 24 multiple award schedules (MAS) into a single schedule for products, services and...more
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC), in Netcentrics Corp. v. United States, recently upheld an agency’s decision to disqualify an offeror from a procurement based on a perceived material misrepresentation in the offeror’s...more
The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a public report on the SBA’s All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP), in which the SBA OIG found certain shortcomings in the SBA’s...more
9/20/2019
/ 8(a) Program ,
Business Development ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
Joint Venture ,
Mentor-Protege Program ,
SBA ,
Set-Aside Contracts ,
Small Business ,
Standard Operating Procedures ,
WOSB
The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced that the Federal Business Opportunities website — commonly referred to as “FedBizOpps.gov” — will be decommissioned “starting on November 8, 2019” and that the website’s...more
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently denied two consolidated bid protests alleging that a solicitation issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) was inconsistent with the Small Business Runway...more
he U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued an interim final rule “adjusting the monetary-based industry size standards (i.e., receipts- and assets-based) for inflation that has occurred since the last...more
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a much-anticipated proposed rule “to modify its method for calculating annual average receipts used to prescribe size standards for small businesses.” Specifically,...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 subsequent year.
Under the ASMPP, any small...more
A California federal court recently allowed a relator’s False Claims Act suit against two federal contractors to proceed where the relator’s allegations centered on purported noncompliance with federal cybersecurity...more
The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP) recently requested approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of a new approach to review federal construction contractors’...more
The General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced that, “[d]ue to corrective action being taken in response to a U.S. Court of Federal Claims protest, the government has rescinded all contract awards made in...more