The federal government’s commitment to supporting small businesses through procurement remains strong, but the shape and scale of that support may soon look very different. In accordance with recent executive orders, sweeping...more
On June 2, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA) denied a size appeal filed by Veteran Elevator Solutions, LLC (VES) challenging the size of Bass, Berry & Sims’ client GD Resources, LLC...more
On April 29, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied Davenergy-VCI JV, LLC’s protest of a solicitation’s cancellation, holding that the lack of available funding is sufficient grounds to cancel. In denying the...more
On May 7, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) dismissed a protest challenging the terms of a solicitation for being unduly restrictive. The protest highlights three important considerations that contractors should...more
Through a duo of Executive Orders (EOs), issued on April 15 and 16 respectively, President Trump announced “a first-of-its-kind overhaul of Federal procurement policy.” The rewrite represents a once-in-a-generation...more
According to an April 1 Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, DRI Relays Inc. (DRI), a subsidiary of TE Connectivity Corporation (TEC) and manufacturer of electrical relays and sockets used on military platforms, agreed...more
As many of our readers know, the ostensible subcontractor rule is one way in which the Small Business Administration (SBA) can find affiliation between a small business and one of its subcontractors, potentially resulting in...more
On February 26, GAO denied the protest of Mission Analytics, Inc., challenging the award of a small business set-aside contract to ThunderCat Technology, LLC, explaining that “it is a firm’s responsibility to submit a...more
Following U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) lead, which we wrote about here, on March 4, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Class Deviation—Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity in Federal Contracts—directing DoD...more
As the Trump administration continues to eliminate federal positions and reduce contract and grant outlays, many private companies will likely be eyeing current and former government employees for employment over the coming...more
3/6/2025
/ Compliance ,
DFARS ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Ethics ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration
On February 24, Judge Armando Bonilla of the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) declined to dismiss a challenge to a $648 million award under a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) development deal, finding that the court had...more
3/3/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
COFC ,
Contract Terms ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Government Agencies ,
Jurisdiction ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Regulatory Requirements
Over the first month of the new administration, President Trump has directed the review or termination of certain types of contracts and grants, including equity-related agreements, awards under the Inflation Reduction Act...more
3/3/2025
/ Compliance ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraudulent Procurement ,
Government Agencies ,
Grants ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
USAID
On February 15, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced two new “class deviations” (CDs) making a number of changes to the procurement rules applicable to GSA solicitations and contracts, including leases of...more
On January 21, in MVL, Inc., et al. v. United States, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) struck down a 2022 Executive Order (EO), as well as the implementing Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), signed by then-President...more
2/12/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
Biden Administration ,
CICA ,
COFC ,
Competition ,
Construction Industry ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Project Labor Agreements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trump Administration
Generally speaking, the U.S. procurement system allows companies competing for U.S. government contracts broad rights to challenge contract awards, as well as the terms of solicitations. There are, however, restrictions...more
2/6/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
Coast Guard ,
Competition ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
GAO ,
Government Agencies ,
NASA ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Threshold Requirements
On January 8, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a pre-award bid protest filed by Bass, Berry & Sims PLC (Bass Berry), which challenged the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers’ (FLETC or the Agency)...more
After numerous fits and starts, on October 14, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a final rule implementing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. Borne from documented deficiencies in the...more
11/12/2024
/ Certifications ,
Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
NIST ,
Proposed Regulation
On September 19, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report highlighting a gap in current Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs) restrictions. According to the report, the Federal Acquisition Regulation...more
10/8/2024
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Contract Termination ,
Contractors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Foreign Entities ,
GAO ,
Grants ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
New Regulations
We have addressed on this blog questions relating to jurisdiction at the GAO, Court of Federal Claims (CFC), and district courts to hear suits relating to awards using the government’s Other Transaction (OT) authority....more
On December 21, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) dismissed a protest by ELS, an unsuccessful bidder on a Department of Defense (DOD) task order opportunity, concluding that it did not have jurisdiction to consider...more
On December 20, 2023, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest, arguing, among other things, that the procurement was tainted by an appearance of impropriety after the agency...more
On November 8, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest that asserted the Veteran Administration’s (VA) evaluation of Texas Waste Company’s past performance was unreasonable and...more
We represented AM General (AMG), an automotive manufacturer that builds military vehicles for government customers, including the Humvee, in a successful bid protest involving a $9.7 billion contract for the U.S. Army to...more
On February 4, President Biden signed the Executive Order on Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, which mandates, with limited exceptions, that contractors and subcontractors working on federal...more
2/11/2022
/ Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Contractors ,
Employees ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Joe Biden ,
Project Labor Agreements ,
Subcontractors ,
Unions
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