The Rise of OTAs in Defense Contracting: Opportunities, Risks, and What Contractors Need to Know
Podcast - Navigating the Updated SF-328 Form
Podcast - A Comparative Guide to Obtaining an FCL: DCSA vs. the Intelligence Community
Diversifying Your Contract Pipeline by Maximizing Opportunities through the DOD’s Mentor Protégé Program
A Comprehensive Overview of FOCI Mitigation
Podcast - Defense Dynamics: Navigating the Post-Election Landscape for the National Security Sector, Part 2
Mitigating FOCI Under Section 847
Episode 345 -- Raytheon Pays $950 Million to Resolve Fraud, FCPA, ITAR and False Claims Act Violations
Everyone Come to Play: Exploring FOCI Mitigation Instruments
Defense Dynamics: Navigating the Post-Election Landscape for the National Security Sector
Podcast - Navigating M&A Due Diligence: Safeguarding Security Clearances
Podcast - Change Condition Packages: Tips for Cleared Contractors
Podcast - Corporate Documents in the Context of Clearances
Navigating Personnel Security Clearances (PCLs)
Cybersecurity Insights: Updates on CMMC Implementation and CUI Identification
What Is an FCL and How Do I Obtain One?
Protecting Our Nation’s Data: Cybersecurity Compliance for Government Contractors
Intellectual Property In Department of Defense Contracting
The When, Where, Why and How of CMMC with Fernando Machado
For contractors within the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), the time to ensure compliance with the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program (CMMC) 2.0 is now. DOD formally sent the final...more
On June 6, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order (E.O.) 14306 to scale back a range of cybersecurity requirements and government-wide approaches implemented by the Biden Administration....more
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving government contractors present unique challenges and considerations that require meticulous due diligence. Unlike purely commercial deals, government contracts introduce layers of...more
Cyber-attacks against America’s defense industrial base are becoming more sophisticated and more frequent. To reduce the risk of sensitive national security information landing in the hands of bad actors, the Department of...more
Government efforts to enforce cybersecurity control requirements have moved forward in the opening months of the Trump administration. Regardless of the changes coming to other areas of contracting and the Federal Acquisition...more
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), is cracking down on procurement fraud and contract fraud. It has recently issued multiple referrals for suspension or debarment, and it is targeting not only prime vendors, but...more
The Rise of OTA in Defense Contracting, Part 4: Capitalizing on Consortia - In this final blog of PilieroMazza’s blog series, “The Rise of OTA in Defense Contracting,” we discuss DOD’s authority to award OTs to consortia...more
Recent actions by the Department of Government Efficiency have led to a surge in contract cancellations, raising significant concerns for government contractors. Contracting Officer’s Discretion and Legal Boundaries - The...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
The Mission Essential Group, LLC (MEG) protested the scope of corrective action by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) following a previous protest involving a linguist support services procurement. In The Mission...more
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contractors with foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) soon will face new requirements. Though cleared DOD contractors have long been bound by FOCI obligations, the new rule will...more
The Trump administration has issued two Executive Orders very recently that will drive changes in federal procurement and defense procurement and impact federal contractors in the very near future. The Executive Orders are...more
Keeping Your Defense Contract: Combating Recent Government Contract Cuts - The Department of Defense (DOD) cut another batch of government contracts and grants on March 20th. The DOD is just one of many executive agencies...more
A recent United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement reinforces that enforcement of cybersecurity requirements under the False Claims Act (FCA) remains an ongoing risk. According to the press release, defense...more
What does DMSMS mean? DMSMS stands for Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages. It is the loss or impending loss of manufacturers or suppliers of items, raw materials, or software. In other words, DMSMS...more
Government contractors and subcontractors should be on the lookout for contract modifications as agencies begin implementing DEI-related Executive Orders....more
When the Government is in a contract, it cannot just stop making payments. This is the general rule whether the contract is a procurement, grant, or cooperative agreement. Rather, the Government’s continued non-payment is...more
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council issued its long awaited proposed rule on Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) on January 15, 2025. The proposed rule establishes a common form to be used by all federal...more
Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth testified during his confirmation hearing on January 14, 2025, that if confirmed*, he intends to use audits to identify potential waste and abuse in defense spending, explaining that...more
SBA Update: New Rule Makes Major Changes to Eligibility and Certification Requirements for HUBZone Program - As PilieroMazza noted on December 17, 2024, the Small Business Administration (SBA or the Agency) published a...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
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it obtained more than $2.9 billion in False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024. DOJ reports that matters that...more
On January 8th, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council withdrew a proposed rule that would have (1) prohibited federal government contractors and subcontractors from requesting or using compensation history in the hiring...more
On May 13, 2024 the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published Instruction 5205.87: Mitigating Risks Related to Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence for Covered DoD Contractors and Subcontractors (the Instruction), which...more
On October 15, 2024, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) released its final rule (the “Final Rule”) formally establishing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”) program, nearly three years after first...more