Since January 2025, the new Trump administration has issued presidential executive orders at an astonishing pace. At least nine of the EO's are either directed at federal government procurement activities or will impact federal government activities in some way. Several of the executive orders, if fully implemented, will profoundly change how the federal government buys products and services and the procedures that agency contracting personnel will have to f…
Earlier today, on June 12, 2025, the FAR Council began its roll-back of proposed rules that were issued under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Today's withdrawals were made in connection with two Trump administration initiatives aimed at reshaping federal procurement regulations.
Proposed FAR Rules Increasing Small Business Participation In Multiple-Award Contracts Are Withdrawn
Early this year, on January 15, 2025, the FAR Council published…
In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we provide a quick status check on the Department of Defense's (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program, touching briefly on recent administration executive orders and DoD nominations. Watch our video blog below or listen to the podcast here.
In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we provide an update on the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program, touching briefly on the Department of Defense's (DoD) Final Rule establishing the CMMC Program, the Proposed Rule under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) that sets out the contract clause expected to be inserted into DoD contracts, and DoD's implementation memorandum that was issued in January 2025. Watc…
In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we briefly discuss equal employment opportunity rules that government contractors still must comply with after the Trump administration's Executive Order 14173. Watch our video blog below or listen to the podcast here.
On December 26, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an Order vacating its earlier decision in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. et al. v. Garland et al. that lifted a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
The Fifth Circuit’s latest Order means that companies are, at least for now, not required to comply with the…
On December 23, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted an emergency motion by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to stay a nationwide preliminary injunction issued by a Texas district court that stopped FinCEN from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
The Fifth Circuit’s ruling means that the injunction against enforcement of the reporting requirements under the CTA…
On December 19, 2024, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a Proposed Rule that amends several provisions of Section 125.3 of its small business regulations under Title 13, and a few of the changes are intended to encourage prompt payment to small business subcontractors by their prime contractors.
Section 125.3 lays out the SBA’s subcontractor assistance program and includes rules that prime contractors are required to follow when they su…
In a recent GovCon Video Blog, we briefly discussed rules that government contractors need to be mindful of when outsourcing work to foreign subcontractors. On November 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Proposed Rule that would require government contractors who work with foreign companies and personnel to meet additional reporting requirements.
The Proposed Rule requires companies to report to DoD on their disclosures of certain c…
On December 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
As we discussed in our recent article, the CTA requires certain domestic and foreign entities that do business in the U.S. to report information about their beneficial owners to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in a Beneficial O…
Government contracting companies that were in existence as of January 1, 2024, have until January 1, 2025, to file their Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) to combat financial crimes including tax fraud, money laundering, and financing for terrorism. The CTA requires many, if n…
On November 12, 2024, the FAR Council (the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and General Services Administration) published an Interim Rule that clarifies the System for Award Management (SAM) registration requirement for contract awards.
Currently, FAR clause 52.204-7 states that a contractor “is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation, and shall continue to be registered until time of a…
On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will take a significant step forward in implementing its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program when it publishes its Final Rule under its national security regulations that establishes the program. As government contractors may remember, DoD published its Proposed Rule revealing details of the program on December 26, 2023. Notwithstanding the complexity of CMMC and signifi…
In mid-August, as the dog days of summer rolled on, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published its long-awaited Proposed Rule revising the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) in order to incorporate the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program requirements into DoD solicitations and contracts. Government contractors that wish to comment on the Proposed Rule have until next week - October 15 - to make their submission…
Beginning on October 1, 2024, Government contractors that employ workers in Maryland are going to have to comply with new rules under Maryland’s Wage Range Transparency law and Pay Stub and Pay Statement law. These new rules require employers to provide wage range information to job applicants and in job postings and to provide pay stubs and certain pay statement information to their employees.
Job Applicant and Job Postings
Maryland’s Wage Range Trans…
On August 20, 2024, a federal district court in Texas struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s rule banning non-compete clauses in agreements between employers and workers. As we discussed in a prior GovCon Bulletin™ article, last month that court in Ryan LLC v. FTC granted a preliminary injunction postponing the effective date of the FTC’s rule, which was set to occur on September 4, 2024, but the court’s decision only blocked the FTC from enforcing its ru…
Last month, the Supreme Court issued a decision that struck down Chevron. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we briefly discuss that decision and what small business government contractors can be doing in its aftermath. Watch our video blog below or listen to the podcast here.
The peculiar path toward implementation for the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program took yet another twist earlier this month.
On July 8, 2024, the Senate Armed Services Committee released its version of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2025). Along with it, the Committee published its Committee Report in which it expressed grave concerns over DoD’s implementation of CMMC. …
On July 3, 2024, the federal district court for the northern district of Texas granted a preliminary injunction in Ryan LLC v. FTC that postpones the effective date of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule that bans the use of non-compete clauses in agreements between employers and workers. The FTC’s Rule, which we discussed in a prior article, is set to become effective on September 4, 2024.
Although the federal district court’s decision only blocks th…
On Monday, June 24, 2024, a Texas federal district court blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) enforcement of certain of the changes that DOL made in a Final Rule issued in August 2023 to its Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) regulations.
In its Final Rule, which became effective in October 2023, DOL made several changes to its DBA regulations in order to expand coverage under the DBA, including by defining key terms under the regulations to include truck d…
On September 4, 2024 - absent intervening litigation - the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) ban on non-compete clauses will become effective. The FTC’s ban will have a significant impact on how all businesses, including federal government contractors, manage their employment relationships and related risks. Indeed, as explained below, government contractors should be prepared to issue notices related to the ban that are required by the FTC to be issued onc…
A few weeks ago, on May 22, 2024, new rules became effective under the Federal Acquisition Regulations that require agencies to implement sustainability in their procurements to the fullest extent practicable. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we briefly touch on a few highlights of the new rules and discuss what government contractors can be doing. Watch our video blog below or listen to the podcast here.
Well, actually, a FAR Part, that is.
On April 1, 2024, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a Final Rule creating, for the first time in almost two decades, a new Part under FAR, titled Information Security And Supply Chain Security. Whether the timing of the publication can be chalked up to a sardonic sensibility, we may never know. But the implicatio…
In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we give a brief update on the U.S. Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program and what all DoD government contractors should be doing.
A few days ago on December 23rd, in the wee hours of an early Saturday morning, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) came to town. Perhaps more like the Grinch in the eyes of some defense contractors, DoD, at last, delivered on its long-awaited promise of Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program regulations. The bundle that DoD left behind in its early morning post is a Proposed Rule that describes in some detail DoD's proposed CMMC Program…
Earlier this month, on September 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense released the summary of its cybersecurity strategy, titled Summary 2023 Cyber Strategy of the Department of Defense (Strategy Summary). The Strategy Summary provides unclassified highlights of a May 2023 classified report that describes how DoD intends to operate in cyberspace to protect the American people and advance U.S. defense priorities.
Setting out DoD’s cyber defense plan…
On August 17, 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Final Rule that incorporates into the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) a streamlined process for acquiring innovative commercial technology known as a Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO). The Final Rule, which becomes immediately effective, makes only one technical change to the proposed rule DoD issued earlier this year on January 31, 2023.
We discussed CSO’s and the p…
As we discussed in our last GovCon Bulletin, the Small Business Administration (SBA) recently finalized its overhaul of a significant number of its regulations covering its small business programs. Among the changes it made in a Final Rule issued on April 27, 2023, was a clarification to how the ostensible contractor rule applies to small business contractors seeking awards under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Tran…
Last week, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) went a long way in acknowledging the balancing act that entrepreneurs and owners of small business startups, including women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), often have to perform as they steer their fledgling companies through the early phases of business development. By letting go of the requirement that WOSB officers must manage their businesses on a full time basis during normal business hours, the SB…
I think we can get by without hiring counsel or a consultant.
I mean, we aren’t even sure we’ll win the bid, right?
So let’s just download the forms we need from one of those online sites.
That should help us get by for now…
What small business owner hasn’t said or thought this - or something like this - at one time or another? With limited funds available, particularly for a small business’ legal spend, every dollar counts. Certainly, when taking int…
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) implemented a cybersecurity assessment requirement that requires contractors to have assessments of their compliance with the security requirements contained in NIST SP 800-171 and to submit a report on that assessment. DoD has stepped up the verification requirement with its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. Both of these efforts at requiring contractors to asses and certify their compli…
As we wait for CMMC 2.0 regulations to be published possibly in May or June, this period of relative tranquility gives Department of Defense (DoD) contractors an opportunity to examine where they stand with respect to cybersecurity requirements already in place. This is especially important for small businesses that either have not focused on cybersecurity issues or have assumed that cybersecurity requirements do not apply to their information systems, when i…
Now, what was that thing again?
I know it’s something I said I need to get done at some point.
But what was THAT THING??
What was that…ahh, I can't remember now but I’m sure it will come back to me at some point.
Who hasn’t said or thought this at one time or another? And in the mad dash to get a proposal submitted under the deadline, there can be a number of “that things” that need to get done.
The number of “that things,” both big and little, can…
Last month, on January 31, 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Proposed Rule that takes a further step in making the Commercial Solutions Opening a permanent contracting option for DoD agencies. A Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) is a streamlined acquisition process that enables DoD agencies to quickly acquire “innovative” commercial products, technologies and services through fixed-price contracts (including fixed-price incentive contracts). DoD…
On February 14, 2023, the Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), published a Final Rule requiring federal agencies to make accelerated payments to small businesses and prime contractors that subcontract to small businesses. As we wrote about in a prior GovCon Bulletin article, the rule change accelerating government contractor payments was first proposed in September 2021. T…
Recently, on January 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a notice giving contractors and the public more time to comment on a rule that DoD first proposed in December 2022 concerning DoD’s right to challenge restrictions on technical data. Technology companies and innovators should take note of the proposed change in case it signals a more aggressive posture by DoD with regard to technical data underlying background intellectual property that con…
Last week, on January 26, 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released its Small Business Strategy (Strategy). While the Strategy has received a fair amount of attention, a DoD Memorandum issued the next day, on January 27, 2023, may have a more immediate impact in opening up opportunities for small businesses, and in particular 8(a) businesses and small disadvantaged business (SDB’s), women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), service-disabled veteran owned sma…
Earlier this month, on January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Proposed Rule that prohibits all employers from entering into non-compete agreements with their workers.
In issuing the Proposed Rule, the FTC followed through on a White House executive order issued in July 2021 that encouraged the FTC to exercise its rulemaking authority to curtail the use of non-compete clauses that limit worker mobility.
Unlike narrowly tailored rules ad…
As we mentioned in our last GovCon Bulletin™ article, the SBA recently finalized its regulations that cover its new VOSB and SDVOSB certification program. Those regulations, which become effective on January 1, 2023, not only set out the procedural steps that small businesses have to take to become certified, they also make significant changes to the eligibility requirements. One change, for example, revises the definition of unconditional ownership.
Under th…
Earlier this week, on November 29, 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a Final Rule establishing its Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) Certification Program.
Before 2018, VOSB’s and SDVOSB’s were subject to dual regulations and certification rules enforced separately by the SBA and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). To be eligible for VOSB and SDVOSB set-aside contracts w…
There are over thirty (30) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) contract clauses that contain employer mandates for federal government contractors and subcontractors, and many of those clauses require contractors to give their employees notice of the employer mandates and their requirements. In this webinar, Mark Amadeo briefly provides an overview of the employee notifications that have to be prov…
On October 28, 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued several final rules that made changes to its regulations in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). In this edition of The GovCon Bulletin,™ we discuss briefly the Final Rules that made changes to regulations addressing nondisclosure agreements, DoD's preference for fixed-price contracts, and considerations of contract pricing by contracting officers.
DoD Rule Prohibiting Cert…
On September 9, 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a Proposed Rule that anticipates changes to a large number of the SBA’s regulations covering its small business programs. In this edition of The GovCon Bulletin,™ we discuss briefly the Proposed Rule changes that focus on joint ventures - namely, changes that prohibit a joint venturer’s participation in multiple joint ventures that submit offers on the same contract and changes to the rules…
In early September 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a Proposed Rule making a large number of changes to regulations that cover its small business programs. In our last GovCon Bulletin™ article covering the Proposed Rule, we focused on changes that impact sole source awards and set-asides for Tribally-Owned, ANC-Owned, NHO-Owned And CDC-Owned 8(a) Businesses. In today’s installment, we briefly discuss the last two changes in the Proposed Ru…
Earlier this month, the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a Proposed Rule with sweeping changes to a number of the SBA’s small business programs. In this latest installment covering the Proposed Rule, we briefly discuss proposed changes to regulations related to businesses in the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development program that are owned by Alaska Native Corporations (ANC’s), Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHO’s), Community Development Corporati…
As we mentioned in our last GovCon Bulletin™ article, earlier this month the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a Proposed Rule that anticipates substantial changes to a number of the SBA’s regulations covering its small business programs. In that article, we briefly discussed proposed changes to the WOSB program. In this installment, we will now briefly cover the Proposed Rule changes to the SBA’s regulations that relate to the HUBZone Small Busine…
Earlier this month, on September 9, 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a voluminous Proposed Rule that anticipates wide-ranging changes to a number of the SBA’s regulations covering its small business programs. The Proposed Rule, for example, outlines changes to the regulations on affiliation, HUBZone Small Business and Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program applications and eligibility, and sole-source and set-aside contracts under the 8(…
Not too infrequently, federal government contractors are surprised when they receive a vendor's purchase order requiring payment of a state sales tax or an invoice notifying the government contractor for the first time that it is expected to pay a sales tax. Indeed, federal government contractors that operate on the assumption that all purchases of materials or supplies used on their federal government contracts are automatically exempt from state and local t…
On July 22, 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a Final Rule that gives small businesses opportunities to overcome one of the most often-cited obstacles to landing a prime contract award - namely the lack of experience and past performance as a prime contractor. Implementing certain provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA 2021), the Final Rule provides two new methods for small businesses to obtain qual…
On June 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Proposed Rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) in order to implement Section 883 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA 2021). Section 883 prohibits DoD agencies from making contract awards to entities that request that their employees sign confidentiality agreements that prohibit or restrict them from reporting waste, fraud, or abuse…
On June 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Final Rule that amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement Executive Order 13881, Maximizing Use of American-made Goods, Products, and Materials. These changes to DFARS were first announced in a Proposed Rule that DoD issued in August 2021 and that we explored in an earlier Bulletin. The Final Rule makes no significant changes to the Proposed Rule.
Thus, as we…
Against the backdrop of an economy grappling with runaway inflation, in late May, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), issued a memorandum titled Guidance on Inflation and Economic Price Adjustments (Guidance). Unfortunately, the Guidance offers little relief to federal government contractors trying to manage today’s inflationary pressures in their existing contracts. Indeed, the Guidance focuses mostly on how contracting officers (CO's) can use economic price a…
In March 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that described changes it anticipated making to it's Davis-Bacon Act regulations. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we briefly discuss three of the proposed changes that government contractors should be aware that may impact the prevailing wage determinations in their localities.
In March 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued regulations under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) that implemented most of the enhanced postaward debriefing rights mandated in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (NDAA 2018). The enhanced postaward debriefing rights under DFARS include the right to debriefings in connection with contract awards and task and delivery orders over $10 million, the r…
As we discussed in Part 1 of our Buy American Rules Update, a Final Rule issued under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) that implement the Buy American Act raises the domestic content requirement for certain products. In another significant development, last month the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Guidance to federal agencies on how they should implement the Build America, Buy America Act provisions of the massive infrastructure bill that was sig…
The last several weeks have seen significant developments with regard to “Buy American" and “Made in America” rules that federal government contractors have to comply with. In particular, a Final Rule under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) published in March increased the domestic content requirements that contractor products and materials have to meet in order to qualify for preferential pricing treatment. In addition, earlier this week, the White House’s…
Late last week, on April 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) published a Final Rule that revises DOI’s supplemental regulations to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in the Department of the Interior Acquisition Regulation (DIAR). The Final Rule, which becomes effective on May 9, 2022, makes a number of changes to DIAR that are intended to expand contracting opportunities for Indian Economic Enterprises (IEE’s) under DOI contracts awarded unde…
Recently, we took a dip into the stream of bid protest rulings and decisions flowing from the various courts and government hearing boards. As we have noted previously, the overwhelming majority of reported bid protest cases deny the protests and affirm agency source selections, but while reviewing the cases decided this past March, a recent “no-decision” by the United States Court of Federal Claims caught our eye. In this GovCon Bulletin,™ we take a deep plunge…
Earlier today, on March 31, 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a series of Final Rules that raised receipts-based small business size standards for industries in a number of NAICS Sectors.
Small business size standards are thresholds or cutoffs for determining how big a company can be and still be considered a small business. Depending on the industry, a small business size standard is expressed either as an average annual receipt amount or…
After the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued an Interim Rule in September 2020 announcing that it's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) would be fully implemented by October 2025, DoD received significant public comment that informed its subsequent revisions to the CMMC framework. Those revisions are reflected in an updated iteration of CMMC, now called CMMC 2.0. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we give a quick update of CMMC and…
In this webinar, hosted by our good friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates, Mark Amadeo briefly provides an overview of the Defense Logistics Acquisition Directive (DLAD), which supplements the generally applicable rules under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) and which applies to procurements by the Defense Logistics Agency. This webinar touches on the role of the Defense Logistic…
On January 26, 2022, Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), issued an Interim Rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in order to implement the Biden administration’s Executive Order (E.O. 14026), titled “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors.” As we discussed in a prior GovCon Bulletin™ (here), E.O. 14026, signed on April 27, 2022, sought to raise t…
On February 24, 2022, the Department of Defense, General Services Administration and National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a Proposed Rule in order to implement changes that the Small Business Administration (SBA) made to its own regulations in November 2019.
In particular, the Proposed Rule revises FAR Part 19 to clarify three aspects of the SBA’s size standards. First, the Proposed Rule confirms that the SBA determines the size status of a busin…
In this webinar, Mark Amadeo briefly discusses several aspects of the Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) that every federal government contractor should know about. Regulations under DPAS are authorized under the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) and Executive Order 13603. These regulations implement standards and procedures that federal government agencies and federal government contractors and subcontractors must follow when placing and f…
On January 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Final Rule amending regulations under the Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR), which supplements the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), that implement the Buy Indian Act (BIA). BIA gives the Indian Health Service (IHS) - an agency within HHS that provides health care to American Indians and Alaskan Natives - the authority to set aside procurements for busin…
On January 5, 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a clarification for how a joint venture partner should count joint venture employees and revenues for purposes of determining its own business size. This clarification was made in the form of a correction to the SBA’s earlier October 2020 Final Rule, which merged the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program and the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Mentor-Protégé Program.
The October 2020 Final Rule pro…
Yesterday, December 7, 2021, a federal district court in Georgia issued a nationwide preliminary injunction halting the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate that required federal government contractor and subcontractor employees to be fully vaccinated by January 18, 2021. That federal court suit, brought by state elected officials in Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia, challenged the Biden administration’s enforcement of Executive O…
November 24, 2021 FAR Rule Update: Rule Revising Commercial Item Definitions Becomes Final As we discussed in a prior GovCon Bulletin™ (here), in October 2020, the Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a Proposed Rule that replaced the term “Commercial Item” in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) with two newly defined terms - “Commercial Product” and “Com…
Yesterday, November 18, 2021, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a Proposed Rule that amends its regulations in order to provide small business government contractors with new methods to obtain past performance ratings that can be used with their offers on federal government contracts.
As amended by the Proposed Rule, the SBA’s regulations would permit a small business government contractor to elect to use the experience and past performance rati…
Earlier this week, on November 8, 2021, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a direct final rule that updated its regulations addressing 8(a) sole source contracts, SDVOSB ownership by surviving spouses, and certain contracting dollar thresholds, in order to conform those regulations to recent statutory changes.
The final rule adopted changes made under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 (NDAA 2020) to how certain surviving spouses are t…
Subpart 19.6 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sets out the rules covering the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Certificate of Competency Program, which, although not as familiar to small business government contractors as other SBA Programs, provides small businesses a unique chance to open doors to contracting opportunities that otherwise seemingly have closed shut. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we discuss briefly four t…
In this webinar, hosted by our good friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates, Mark Amadeo briefly discusses the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) rules in Part 245 that supplement the generally applicable government property rules under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), including the DFARS regulations covering when and how property becomes government property, the government's assumption of risk for property losses, acceptab…
Earlier today, September 29, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued a proposed rule likely to be welcomed by small business federal contractors. The proposed rule is intended to accelerate payments to small business contractors and subcontractors and seeks comments on whether payments to large business subcontractors should also be accelerated.
The propo…
Late last month, on August 30 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a proposed rule that makes three changes in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to the regulations concerning contract pricing reasonableness and contract pricing data requests.
First, under the proposed rule, for purposes of determining that the price of a defense agency contract or subcontract is fair and reasonable, contracting officers are prohibited from…
As we wrote about in a prior Bulletin (here), in January 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a final rule amending the “Buy American” regulations under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) to increase the “domestic content” requirement under the regulations to 55 percent for items not wholly or predominantly iron or steel and to increase the price preference for d…
At long last, revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules on limitations on subcontracting by small businesses, including the nonmanufacture rule, are set to take effect today, September 10, 2021. These revisions are part of a final rule under FAR issued on August 11, 2021 by the U.S. Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The FAR revisions implement changes that the U.S…
On August 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a final rule (FAR Final Rule) implementing requirements under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA 2017) mandating that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) include examples of a failure to make a good faith effort to comply with a small business subcontracting plan.
FAR Part 19 requ…
Last week, on July 28, 2021, the Biden Administration announced (here) that it would increase American-made content in federal procurement purchases and that it would bolster support for domestic production of products and services that are critical to national and economic security. Quickly thereafter, on July 30, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), issued a propos…
Earlier today, on July 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule that requires service contractors to report annually certain data regarding contracts or tasks orders over $3 million that are for logistics management services, equipment-related services, knowledge-based services, or electronics and communications services.
By way of background, section 807 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 required D…
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT DECISIONS
Harmonia Holdings Group, LLC v. U.S. (June 8, 2021) A government contractor (Harmonia Holdings Group, LLC) appealed a decision by the Court of Federal Claims dismissing in part and denying in part its post-award protest. The agency (U.S. Census Bureau) issued an RFP as a women-owned small business set-aside but awarded the contract to another bidder. Harmonia then filed a protest with the Court of Federal C…
Last month, on May 20, 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published proposed and final rules under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) covering expedited contract closeouts, the use of subcontractor and joint venturer past performance information for construction and A&E contract awards, and enhanced postaward debriefing rights. The proposed and final rules are discussed briefly below.
DOD ISSUES FINAL DFARS RULE TO EXPEDITE…
Recently, on June 10 and June 14, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published proposed and final rules under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) covering HUBZone small businesses, the threshold for requiring fair opportunity on mutiple-award contract orders, and equipment acquisitions under FAR Subpart 7.4. The proposed and final rules are discussed bri…
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT DECISIONS
Pacific Coast Community Services, Inc. v. U.S. (April 30, 2021) A government contractor (Pacific Coast Community Services) filed an appeal of a decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims dismissing its case. Contractor alleged that the federal government agency (Federal Protective Service) breached its firm-fixed price contract by underpaying it. Under the contract, the contractor was required to provide…
On April 27, 2021, President Biden announced an executive order that raises the minimum wage for non-tipped employees of federal government contractors and subcontractors to $15 per hour beginning on January 30, 2022. Significantly, the executive order requires the minimum wage to be increased annually by an amount determined by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and based on the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Consumer Price Index.
Under the executive order, the min…
As we discussed in our article last month (here), in February the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) decided to delay until May 7 the implementation of its new independent contractor regulation, which was released in November 2020 under the prior administration. The new regulation adopts a five-factor “economic reality” test for making the determination of whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards…
U.S. COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS (COFC) DECISIONS
Microgenics Corp. v. U.S. (March 30, 2021) Contractor (Microgenics) filed a bid protest against the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC), an entity within the judicial branch, in connection with a solicitation for equipment, supplies and consumables used to operate on-site drug testing laboratories. The COFC, however, dismissed the suit, deciding that the AOUSC was not a “Federal agency” for purpos…
U.S. COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS (COFC) DECISIONS
SEKRI, Inc. v. U.S. (March 22, 2021) The COFC dismissed a pre-award bid solicitation protest that was filed directly with the court after an agency (DLA) failed to designate the protestor (SEKRI) as a mandatory source of supply for certain military equipment under the AbilityOne Program. The COFC deviated from the arguments of both protestor and DLA and ruled, on its own, that the protestor lacked standing under the T…
In this webinar, Mark Amadeo briefly discusses how the SBA's Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program expands federal government contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses and addresses the eligibility requirements and certification procedures under the program.
If you missed participating in the webinar, you can view it below. You can also download the presentation as a powerpoint presentation (here) or pdf (here) and listen to or d…
March 18, 2021
Introducing the GovCon Legal Round Up™!
In this issue of The GovCon Bulletin,™ we introduce our GovCon Legal Round Up,™ providing short summaries of recently released federal government contracting bid protest and dispute decisions. We hope the handful or so of cases that we select and summarize in each round up - taken from decisions made by the SBA's Office of Hearing Appeals, GAO, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
Recently, on February 19, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew for the third time in three weeks an opinion letter - FLSA2019-6 - addressing the issue of whether workers are independent contractors.
Earlier, on January 26, 2021, DOL withdrew two opinion letters - FLSA2021-9 and FLSA2021-8 - in which DOL concluded the workers in question were independent contractors. DOL had issued FLSA2021-8 and FLSA2021-9 on January 19, the last full day of the Tru…
In May 2021, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published its much anticipated final rule covering WOSB certifications. The final rule not only included clarifications to certification procedures that the SBA initially unveiled in its proposed rule a year earlier, but it also made changes to the proposed procedures. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we discuss briefly a few of the changes that the SBA implemented to the WOSB certification…
In this webinar, Mark Amadeo briefly discusses how the SBA's consolidated All Small Mentor-Protégé Program expands contracting opportunities for small business protégés and their approved mentors, and touches on the application process, as well as the requirements imposed by the SBA's regulations on mentors and protégés, mentor-protégé agreements, and mentor-protégé joint venture arrangements.
If you missed participating in the webinar, you can view i…
Last month, on January 14, 2021, DoD, GSA and NASA issued a final rule that sets out new criteria, as well as limitations, on the inclusion of lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection criteria in solicitations by civilian agencies. Initially proposed in October 2019, the final rule makes no changes and only a few minor edits to the October 2019 proposed rule, and is set to become effective on February 16, 2021.
The new FAR rule is similar to a…
In January 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule containing its first regulation that sets forth, for the first time, a uniform test for determining if workers are employees or independent contactors. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we discuss briefly the economic reality test adopted by the new DOL regulation, the factors to be applied when using the test to determine a worker's classification as employee or independe…
Earlier this week, on January 19, 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a final rule that amends “Buy American” regulations under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). The final rule makes two significant changes – first, it increases the “domestic content” requirement under the regulations; second, it increases the price preference for domestic products.
As reflected i…
Earlier this week, on January 13, 2021, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim final rule that allows companies in the 8(a) Business Development (8(a) BD) program to extend their participation in the program for up to one additional year. The extension is intended to help small businesses that were participants in the 8(a) BD program as of March 30, 2020 (the date of the nationwide coronavirus emergency disaster declaration) and that may ha…
Last month, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced (see announcement here) that the comment period was reopened for its August 31 advanced proposed rulemaking under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). The reopened comment period, extended until January 31, 2021, is intended to provide experts, the public, and the private sector with an opportunity to address anticipated changes to rules under DFARS concerning the rights of the federal…
On October 15, 2020, the Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a Proposed Rule that replaces the term “Commercial Item” in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) with two newly defined terms - “Commercial Product” and “Commercial Service.” As the public comment period draws to a close on December 14, we take this opportunity to take a quick look at the FAR ch…
In September 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense published an interim rule that incorporates Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification ("CMMC") requirements into new regulations that apply to DoD agencies and defense contractors. The interim rule also unveils new regulations that require DoD contractors to undergo assessments of their implementation of NIST SP 800-171 security controls. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we discuss briefly four thi…
In this webinar hosted by our friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates, Mark Amadeo briefly reviews Part 27 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). In particular, the webinar touches on the rights of the U.S. Government and contractors and subcontractors in technical data, computer software, and inventions that are generated under a government contract or delivered to the U.S. Government. The webinar also addresses rights of contractors to assert cop…
Earlier this month the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published its long-awaited final rule covering the certification requirements for Women-Owned Small Business Concerns (WOSBs) and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business Concerns (EDWOSBs). In that rule, the SBA also took the opportunity to make changes to align the dollar threshold for economic disadvantage under the 8(a) Business Development Program with the dollar threshold for econom…
In this webinar hosted by our friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates, Mark Amadeo discusses briefly how government contractors use teaming agreements to solidify their relationships with their government contracting partners. The webinar also distinguishes teaming agreements from contractor team arrangements and discusses how teaming agreements can provide frameworks for contractors to not only respond to a targeted procurement but also to pursue multiple…
Early this morning, the U.S. Senate passed a $2 trillion stimulus package intended to stabilize the economy from the shocks inflicted on it by COVID-19 and related shutdowns. It is reported that a $300 billion portion is ear-marked for small business and includes loans intended to keep employees on the payroll. Approval of the package is pending by the U.S. House of Representatives, but small business contractors can and should explore stimulus funding intended to…
In June 2019, the U.S. Department of Defense unveiled the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification ("CMMC"), which is intended to reflect a unified standard against which the cyber hygiene and cybersecurity policies and practices of DoD contractors will be assessed. More recently, in January 2020, DoD posted on a website dedicated to CMMC its first written guidance on the certification requirements. In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we discuss bri…
In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we discuss briefly recent changes by the SBA to how annual revenue is calculated for purposes of revenue-based size standards. Specifically, we discuss the change from the use of a three-year averaging period to a five-year averaging period, the application of the five-year averaging period to service and non-service industries, the calculation of annual revenue when a segregable business division is acquired or sold…
Government contractors typically request debriefs in order to better understand an agency's selection decision, with eyes toward improving their offers in the future, protesting the agency's exclusion or award decision, or both. In this webinar hosted by our friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates, Mark Amadeo discusses briefly how government contractors can make the most out of their debrief sessions, whatever their goals may be. In particular, the webi…
In this webinar hosted by our friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates, Mark Amadeo discusses briefly the basic rules on preaward debriefs of agency decisions to exclude contractors from competition and postaward debriefs of agency selection decisions. The webinar addresses issues such as deadlines for requesting debriefs, who can request them and how, and what information must and must not be provided to contractors during the debrief. The webinar also t…
In April 2019, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) revised the policy directives that govern the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. In this webinar, Mark Amadeo discusses briefly the policy directive changes including the combining of the separate SBIR & STTR policy directives into one unified directive, the change in the length of the data rights protection period to 20 years, and th…
In this episode of The GovCon Video Blog,™ we discuss briefly changes to the procedures for certification of women-owned small businesses (WOSB's) under a new rule recently proposed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The proposed changes discussed here impact eligibility for set-asides and sole source awards under the SBA's WOSB program and include the elimination of the option to self-certify, a new no-cost option to apply for WOSB certification dire…
Late last week, on July 18, 2019, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an Interim Final Rule that adjusts small business size standards, effective August 19, 2019. Small business size standards, which are typically expressed as either the number of employees in a business or the average annual receipts of a business, represent the largest size that a business may be in order to be classified as a small business for SBA and federal contracting program…
In this ninth episode of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly export licenses under EAR, including how to read the commerce control list and country charts to determine the license requirements for intended destination countries, as well as exceptions to the licensing requ…
In this eighth episode of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly the restrictions on exports under EAR, including prohibitions against exports without licenses and exports to embargoed countries.
To listen to this vlog as a podcast click here. To see other vlogs from…
In this seventh episode of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly transfers that are considered exports under EAR, including deemed exports of software and technology.
To listen to this vlog as a podcast click here. To see other vlogs from The GovCon Video Blog™ go he…
In this sixth episode of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly controlled items that are covered under EAR.
To listen to this vlog as a podcast click here. To see other vlogs from The GovCon Video Blog™ go here.
In this webinar hosted by our friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates, Mark Amadeo discusses briefly the Price Reduction Clause under GSAR 552.238-75 that GSA routinely inserts into its GSA Schedule Contracts, including the circumstances that trigger the mandatory price reductions required to be offered to the federal government. The webinar also touches on the exceptions to the price reduction requirements and tips to minimize price reduction triggers. …
In this fifth part of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly requirements for obtaining export licenses and pre-approvals under ITAR, including the requirement for registering an applicant with the U.S. Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
To li…
On November 1, 2018, the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration published a proposed rule that requires a federal agency to use a standard notice to inform contractors about the agency's task-order and delivery-order ombudsman.
Specifically, the proposed rule amends FAR 16.506 to require agencies to insert a newly created FAR clause under FAR 52.216 in solicitations and contracts that contempla…
As we wrote about here, earlier this year the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) proposed a regulation implementing the mandate under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA 2017) giving the SBA exclusive responsibility for formulating a uniform definition of a “small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans” to be used for procurements set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB’s)…
In this webinar hosted by our friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates, Mark Amadeo discusses briefly GSA's Contractor Teaming Arrangements (CTA's), including the requirements on GSA Schedule Contractors for becoming part of a CTA, the benefits of forming CTA's, the differences between CTA's and FAR 9.6 Contractor Teaming Arrangements, and the application of delivery or task order small business set-asides to CTA's. The webinar also touches on GSA's guidan…
In this fourth part of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly the restrictions on exports under ITAR, including the requirements for prior approval by the U.S. Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and bans on exports to certain countries.
To list…
In this third part of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly exports under ITAR, including transfers of technical data within the U.S. that are deemed exports.
To listen to this vlog as a podcast click here. To see other vlogs from The GovCon Video Blog™ go here…
In this second part of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly the items that are export-controlled under ITAR - namely defense articles, defense services and technical data.
To listen to this vlog as a podcast click here. To see other vlogs from The GovCon Video Blog™…
In this first part of The GovCon Video Blog™ series covering the export control rules that apply to government contractors under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), we discuss briefly the application of the rules to technical data and software, e-mails and oral communications, and domestic communications with foreign persons. We also touch on permissible exports of controlled items with license…
Earlier this week, on January 29, 2018, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a Proposed Rule addressing ownership and control of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOSB’s). The Proposed Rule follows through on changes to the ownership requirements under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA’s) programs that were anticipated by the SBA in its last semiannual Regulatory Agenda and that are mandated by NDAA 2017. As we explained in our pr…
In this webinar, Mark Amadeo and Jennifer Schaus, Principal & Founder of Jennifer Schaus & Associates, discuss briefly how the SBA's All Small Mentor-Protégé Program expands contracting opportunities for small business protégés and their approved mentors. The webinar also touches briefly on the application process, and the requirements imposed by the SBA's regulations on mentors and protégés, mentor-protégé agreements and mentor-protégé joint venture…
As many contractors by now are aware, and as we explained in our 5-part GovCon Video Blog™ series (here) on federal government contract cybersecurity requirements, contractors that bid on and are awarded contracts with Department of Defense (DoD) agencies that are not solely for the acquisition of commercial off the shelf items have two cybersecurity obligations under DFARS clause 252.204-7012 and its implementing rule, DFARS 204.7304(c). First, defense contract…
On November 29, 2017, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued its STTR 18.A Program Broad Agency Announcement and its SBIR 18.1 Program Broad Agency Announcement, beginning the 30-day pre-release window during which small businesses can communicate directly and privately with the Technical Points of Contact who authored the BAA topics. Discussions with topic authors during the pre-release period often can be invaluable opportunities to obtain not only useful…
November 27, 2017
Mark Amadeo to Discuss Flow Down Clauses under Defense Subcontracts at 2nd Annual Doing Business with DoD & The Intel Community Conference - Join Us! On Tuesday, November 28, 2017, Mark Amadeo will be discussing flow down clauses under subcontracts supporting defense prime contracts at the 2nd Annual Doing Business with DoD and the Intel Community conference. The conference is organized by Jennifer Schaus & Associates and Virgi…
November 20, 2017
Mark Amadeo to Discuss Flow Down Clauses under Defense Subcontracts at 2nd Annual Doing Business with DoD & The Intel Community Conference - Join Us! On November 28, 2017, Mark Amadeo will be discussing flow down clauses under subcontracts supporting defense prime contracts at the 2nd Annual Doing Business with DoD and the Intel Community conference. The conference is organized by Jennifer Schaus & Associates and Virginia PTAP and bring…
In this third part of our vlog series covering different aspects of cybersecurity rules that apply to federal government contracts, we discuss briefly the rules under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) that apply to government contracts with Department of Defense (DoD) agencies. Those rules, which require defense contractors to implement the safeguarding requirements under NIST's SP 800-171 to their internal information systems by D…
Over the weekend, the Department of Defense, General Services Administration and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (the “FAR Agencies”), issued a final rule (here) putting the last nail in the coffin for the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces provisions contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
As we noted in a prior bulletin (here), President Obama signed Executive Order 13673 (EO 13673), Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, which imposed a number of…
Last week, on October 17, 2017, the U.S. Senate voted to appoint members to join with House members on a conference committee to work out differences between Senate and House NDAA 2018 bills. The Senate passed its bill on September 18, while the U.S. House of Representative passed its bill in July. As we stated during our closer look of the House’s bill (here), examining the defense authorization bills gives government contractors an early glimpse and insight of…
October 13, 2017
Join Us For the Federal Government Contractors New (Fiscal) Year Soiree!
The Amadeo Law Firm is pleased to be a sponsor of the Federal Government Contractors New (Fiscal) Year Soiree, organized and hosted by our good friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates. The event will be held at the Kennedy Center on October 23, 2017, beginning at 5:30 pm. For more information about the event and to register, go here!
Mark Amadeo
SBA Updates…
In this webinar, Mark Amadeo and Jennifer Schaus, Principal & Founder of Jennifer Schaus & Associates, discuss briefly how the "full and open competition" requirement for federal government procurements is applied to GSA Schedule contracts and orders. The webinar also touches on set-asides, sole source awards, as well as the "three schedule contractor" rules for distributing RFQs and obtaining quotes under GSA Schedule orders.
If you missed pa…
In this webinar, Mark Amadeo and Jennifer Schaus, Principal & Founder of Jennifer Schaus & Associates, discuss briefly the rules concerning closeouts of government contract files and best practice tips for federal government contractors.
If you missed participating in the webinar, you can view it below. Download the PowerPoint presentation here.
To see other GovCon Webinars go here.
Recently, the SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals issued a decision sustaining, in part, a protest over the SBA's size determination of a purported ostensible subcontractor joint venture. In this edition of The GovCon Bulletin,™ we take a deep dive into the decision, which as we explain below, is particularly informative to small business government contractors since the SBA chose to announce during the protest proceedings its intent to revise its regulations to…
Last week the SBA published its semiannual Regulatory Agenda (the “Agenda”), which is a summary of current and projected regulatory actions and completed actions. The Agenda (which can be downloaded here) highlights several anticipated changes to regulations that impact small business government contractors, including women-owned small businesses (WOSB’s), service-disabled veteran owned small businesses (SDVOSB’s) and HUBZone small businesses. Below are several of…
In this webinar, Mark Amadeo and Jennifer Schaus, Principal & Founder of Jennifer Schaus & Associates discuss briefly the mandatory and optional flow down clauses that prime contractors should include in their subcontracts to perform under federal government contracts.
If you missed participating in the webinar, you can view it below. Download the PowerPoint presentation here.
To see other GovCon Webinars go here.
August 17, 2017
Join Us For A Free Webinar On Flow Down Clauses! Join us next Friday, August 25, 2017 at noon for a free webinar! Mark Amadeo will be discussing flow down clauses with Jennifer Schaus, Founder & Principal of Jennifer Schaus & Associates. To register for the webinar, go here!
Mark Amadeo
In this second part of our vlog series covering different aspects of cybersecurity rules that apply to federal government contracts, we discuss b…
Well before 2016, the federal government began taking steps to protect non-public electronic information made available to government contractors. Indeed those efforts culminated in three final regulations issued last year, before the elections, that imposed requirements on government contractors to not only safeguard the information they received from the government but also, when performing under contracts with defense agencies, to inform the Department of…
Earlier this month, the House passed its bill authorizing $696 billion in Department of Defense (DoD) spending for the 2018 fiscal year. The Senate Armed Services Committee recently completed markup of the Senate’s version of NDAA 2018, and now that healthcare legislation is off the calendar, the Senate should begin consideration of its bill shortly.
Getting back to the bill that passed the House, though, certain aspects of the authorization have already attracted…
Government contractors that do not obtain federal agency approval of their purchasing and subcontractor systems often are subject to a consent to subcontract requirement when they contract under certain cost-reimbursement or similar types of government contracts and then, in turn, seek to subcontract under cost-reimbursement or similar types of subcontracts. Thus, under these circumstances, contractors must obtain a contracting officer's consent before they e…
A few weeks ago, President Trump signed an executive order, titled Buy American And Hire American (the "EO"), aimed at maximizing the use of goods, products and materials produced in the U.S. It is important to note that the EO, signed on April 18 and that can be found here, does not propose any new additional laws; nor does it amend existing laws or regulations. Rather, the EO signals the administration's intent to vigorously enforce laws already on the books. I…
Earlier this week, on Monday, March 27, 2017, President Trump signed a joint resolution (which you can read here) declaring that the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule would “have no force or effect.”
As we wrote about in our prior bulletin here, on June 30, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13673 (the “E.O.”), entitled Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, mandating that before a contracting officer can award a contract, he or she must determine if a contractor…
During the Summer of 2016, the SBA made a number of changes to rules concerning how joint ventures can be awarded small business contracts, including set-asides for 8(a) Participants, HUBZone Small Businesses, WOSB's, SDVOSB's and small businesses. A related development at that time was the SBA's unveiling of its "All Small" Mentor-Protege Program. The most significant impact of these changes is the expansion of opportunities for businesses to compete for and…
Government contracts with federal agencies routinely include a bevy of FAR clauses required to be inserted into the contracts by a contracting officer. These clauses often cover not only contract performance but also additional conditions that prime contractors have to meet, such as compliance with labor and employment laws. To ensure compliance all along the contracting chain, the clauses sometimes require prime contractors to turn around and "flow down" thes…
In May and July 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which is charged with regulating and enforcing the rules on small business participation in federal government contracting, made changes to the regulations that cover the use of joint ventures in federal government contracting. To a large extent, the changes made to the regulations have provided clarity and consistency in how joint ventures can be used by businesses that wish to compete for federal…
Until recently small businesses that were not 8(a) companies largely were unable to team with mentors or large companies on small businesses set-aside contracts. That changed with the SBA’s implementation of the new “All Small Mentor Protégé” program, which seeks to expand resources and opportunities available to small businesses. In this installment of the GovCon Video Blog, we discuss four things that contractors should know about the new program. This vlo…
December 21, 2016
Have a Joyful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!
As the end of the year approaches, we'd like to thank all the readers of The GovCon Bulletin™ for following along and for all the thoughtful comments and feedback we received throughout the year. We wish everyone a joyful holiday season, a happy and safe New Years Day, and a prosperous 2017!
Mark Amadeo
Privacy Training Requirements
On December 20, 2016, Department of Defense (DoD), Gener…
December 12, 2016
Join Us at The Kennedy Center On December 20 For The Federal Government Contractors Holiday Soiree!
The Amadeo Law Firm is please to be a sponsor of the Federal Government Contractors Holiday Soiree, hosted by our good friends at Jennifer Schaus & Associates. The networking event will be on December 20, 2016, beginning at 5:30 pm and will take place on the Terrace Level of The Kennedy Center. For more information about the GovCon event…
In this podcast, hosted by our good friend Mike Pansky at InterKn, which offers an online platform that provides comprehensive information on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) projects, awards and investors, Mark Amadeo talks with Mike about the SBIR and STTR programs and how small businesses can leverage SBIR and STTR data rights to protect their valuable technologies. To listen to the podcast, go here.
To re…
Today, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued the pre-release of it’s 2017 SBIR and STTR Topic Broad Agency Announcements (BAA), which used to be called “Solicitations.” You can find DoD’s SBIR 17.1 and STTR 17.A BAA topics at DoD’s SBIR website here.
DoD’s pre-release period, which runs until January 10, 2017, is the time that small businesses can contact topic authors and direct technical questions about the topics. On January 10, 2017, when the pre-relea…
On November 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a proposed rule, which can be found here, to clarify the justification requirement for 8(a) sole-source awards. Currently, an agency may not award a sole-source 8(a) contract over $22 million unless the contracting officer justifies the use of a sole-source contract in writing; the justification is approved by the appropria…
October 25, 2016
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued several proposed and final rules to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). In this edition of the GovCon Bulletin™ we will summarize two of the final rules, one concerning the government’s rights in technical data and another concerning a prohibition against the use of cost-plus contracts for family housing and construction projects. In the next edition of…
If you are a tech startup or small business, you know that obtaining funds to support technology development is not easy. Calling itself "America's Seed Fund," the government's SBIR program offers a unique and important path to technology funding that does not require equity dilution by tech business owners. The SBIR program also extends some measure of protection over valuable technical data and software rights that is not available under other government c…
On September 30, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Final Rule implementing the mandate under Executive Order 13706 (Executive Order) that established paid sick leave for federal contractors. The Executive Order, which was signed on September 15, 2015 (described in our prior bulletin here) requires parties that contract with the Federal Government to provide their employees with up to 7 days (56 hours) of paid sick leave annually, including paid lea…
On September 20, 2016, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a notice, which can be found here, announcing the applicable minimum wage rate to be paid beginning on January 1, 2017, to workers performing work on or in connection with Federal contracts covered by Executive Order 13658.
Executive Order 13658 established a methodology for setting and raising annually the hourly minimum wage paid by contractors to workers performing…
In this next installment of our vlog series covering the rights of federal contractors to technical data, inventions and software, we discuss three things contractors should do to preserve rights in technical data and software. This vlog series picks up where our white paper, Navigating Federal Contracting Rules on Inventions, Software, and Data, A Guide For Technology and Software Companies, leaves off.
To listen to this vlog as a podcast click here. T…
August 19, 2016
Part 3 of Our Summary of SBA's Changes To Regulations On Mentor-Protégé Programs, Joint Ventures and 8(a) BD Program
A few weeks ago, on July 25, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule (the "Final Rule") amending SBA regulations to implement provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA 2013). The Final Rule, which becomes effective on August 24, 2016 a…
August 17, 2016
Part 2 of Our Summary of SBA's Changes To Regulations On Mentor-Protégé Programs, Joint Ventures and 8(a) BD Program
A few weeks ago, on July 25, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule (the "Final Rule") amending SBA regulations to implement provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA 2013). The Final Rule, which becomes effective on August 24, 2016 and…
August 15, 2016
Part 1 of Our Summary of SBA's Changes To Regulations On Mentor-Protégé Programs, Joint Ventures and 8(a) BD Program
A few weeks ago, on July 25, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule (the "Final Rule") amending SBA regulations to implement provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA 2013). The Final Rule adopts, with some modifications, the changes…
July 11, 2016
Part 3 of Our Summary of SBA's Sweeping Amendments To Its Regulations!
On June 30, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA's) final rule amending SBA regulations to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA 2013) became effective.
In Part 1 of our summary, which you can read here, we reviewed the changes to the HUBZone Program, Subcontracting Plans, Affiliation - Identity of Interest & Economic…
If you missed the live complimentary webinar, you can see it by clicking on the image below. In this webinar, Mark Amadeo and Jennifer Schaus, Founder & Principal of Jennifer Schaus & Associates, talk about government contracting under the federal government's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Download the PowerPoint presentation here.
To see other GovCon Webinars go here.
If you missed the live complimentary webinar, you can see it by clicking on the image below. In this webinar, Mark Amadeo and Jennifer Schaus, Founder & Principal of Jennifer Schaus & Associates, talk about Tribally Owned 8(a) companies. Download the PowerPoint presentation here.
To see other GovCon Webinars go here.
June 23, 2016
Part 2 of Our Summary of SBA's Sweeping Amendments To Its Regulations!
On May 31, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule amending SBA regulations, that can be found here and becomes effective June 30, in order to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 relating to performance requirements applicable to small business and socioeconomic program set-aside contracts and small business…
On June 16, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court in Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. U.S., issued a rare unanimous decision in a case addressing preferences in contracting to Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs), including Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs), by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). In a holding that expands contracting opportunities for VOSBs, including SDVOSBs, the Supreme Court held that the VA must apply the so-called “Rule…
June 15, 2016
Join Complimentary Webinar on June 17 Discussing the Federal SBIR & STTR Programs!
On June 17, 2016, I will be providing an overview of the federal government's SBIR & STTR programs, as part of a webinar series hosted by my good friend and law firm colleague, Jennifer Schaus, Founder & Principal of Jennifer Schaus & Associates.
To register go here. In this edition of The GovCon Bulletin, we review the final rule, published by t…
June 5, 2016
SBA Publishes Sweeping Amendments To SBA Regulations!
On May 31, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule amending SBA regulations in order to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 relating to performance requirements applicable to small business and socioeconomic program set-aside contracts and small business subcontracting. This final rule, which can be found here and becomes…
On May 16, 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (collectively, the “Federal Agencies”) published a final rule, which can be found here, that amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to add a new subpart – Subpart 4.19 — Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems – and a new contract clause – FAR clause 52.204-21, Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contrac…
In this next installment of our Vlog series covering the rights of federal contractors to technical data, inventions and software, we discuss three things contractors need to do to retain ownership of new inventions created during the course of a government contract. This vlog series picks up where our white paper, Navigating Federal Contracting Rules on Inventions, Software, and Data, A Guide For Technology and Software Companies, leaves off.
To listen…
Last month, Distributed Solutions, Inc. (DSI) petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) that was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The case involves software licensing rights under a federal government contract and serves as a reminder that FAR and DFARS clauses allocating data and software rights between federal agencies and contractors are not required to be insert…
Mark Amadeo presents as a subject matter expert on JV's - Joint Ventures in Government Contracting. Download the PowerPoint presentation here.
To see other GovCon Webinars go here.
February 22, 2016
Check Out Our Video Blog! Today we are publishing the first episode of The GovCon Video Blog™! The vlogs, which can be viewed on our website, are also available on YouTube. We hope you find them informative and useful!
Mark Amadeo
So your company has developed or plans to develop a nifty device, app, or software program that will be integrated into a product or service that will be marketed or sold to the federal government. Here ar…
Today, the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Department of Defense (collectively, the Federal Agencies), published a proposed rule aimed at prohibiting government contractors from restricting the ability of subcontractors or employees to lawfully report waste, fraud, or abuse to appropriate federal government authorities. Specifically, today’s proposed rule adds a new FAR section 3.909 that prohibits the fe…
Today, the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Department of Defense (collectively, the Federal Agencies), published a proposed rule that implements two requirements under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and under a subsequent Small Business Administration's (“SBA”) final rule, published on July 16, 2013. The first requirement is that a prime contractor must report to a contracting officer when the prime c…
January 4, 2016
Happy New Year!
We hope everyone had a Happy New Year’s weekend!
There was a flurry of regulatory activity last December and that activity continued right up until the last day of the year when FAR was amended to implement sole source authority for WOSBs. Below we summarize the interim rule, issued December 31, 2015, that amends FAR.
Mark Amadeo
As we noted here, last September the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a fina…
December 30, 2015
Goodbye 2015, Bring On 2016!
In today's bulletin we review DoD's second interim rule, issued this morning, that implements cybersecurity requirements on government contractors. As we approach the final days of 2015, we want to wish you all a safe and joyous end of the year, and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Mark Amadeo
This morning the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued an interim rule that amends a prior interim rule issued on Aug…
Today, the SBA issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking seeking input and comments on certification requirements for women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) and economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSBs). As we wrote about here, last September, the SBA implemented congressional authority under the National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA) for sole-source awards to WOSBs or EDWOSBs. At that time, the SBA acknowl…
December 16, 2015
Check Out Our New Web Site!
We have a new web site! As we mentioned in our last bulletin, we have streamlined the content that we offer to friends and clients in order to make the information more accessible across multiple viewing platforms. This process began earlier this year in the Spring when we re-introduced our bulletin with its new colors. We have carried these colors over to our new web site, which also is more accessible and respons…
November 2015
Two In One - The GovCon Bulletin™
Over the next few months, the firm will be making changes to its website to make the content more accessible and interactive. In connection with those changes, we have decided to combine The Government Procurement Bulletin™ and the GovCon Blog™ into one publication, The GovCon Bulletin,™ to make government contracting news and information more accessible. We will also be streamlining the content on the website to…
On September 14, 2015, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) published a final rule (the “Final Rule”) that implements congressional authority given to federal agencies under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (the “NDAA”) to make sole source awards to women-owned small businesses (WOSBs). The Final Rule also implements the NDAA’s mandate shortening the time period for the SBA to conduct a study to determine the industries in whic…
September 2015
Play Ball!
Yes, we have reached the sports equinox! The first full week of September, that special time of year when summer and fall sports converge! We have the U.S. Open reaching its crescendo in Flushing Meadows, college football teams everywhere coming off their season openers, NFL teams fast approaching theirs, and Major League Baseball division leaders counting down their magic numbers in earnest. If you are a sports fan, it doesn't get bet…
June 2015
Summertime!
It's a great time to be in the Washington, DC area - summer is here, the weather is warm, and (to the chagrin of my beloved Mets) the Nats are leading the NL East! Indeed, as we announced in April, the firm has increased its presence in the metropolitan area by adding a new Bethesda office to better connect with government contractors and businesses along the I-270 technology corridor. The firm's new location is listed below.
In this edi…
March 2015
Spring Forward!
Well the snow is almost all gone, at least in the Washington DC area, and Spring is nearly here. After its own hibernation, The Government Procurement Bulletin™ is back to give timely updates on changes in the government procurement legal landscape. In this edition, we review recent proposed changes to the SBA's regulations on joint ventures and mentor-protégé programs, topics we focused on in the Firm's primer Using Joint Ventures T…
Earlier this year, in May, the Department of Defense (DoD) amended DFARS to allow the government to give "support contractors" access to proprietary software and data belonging to defense contractors. If your IT company contracts, or wants to contract, with the federal government, the amended rules clearly underscore the need for your business to control and manage the solutions it develops during a government procurement. Indeed, tech companies that are new to g…
Your small but innovative technology company has just become a crucial contractor on a large government project. In order to handle the tasks under that contract, along with existing commercial work, your company decides to staff up and add two more part-time or contract employees. Until now, your company’s only staff has comprised you and two other owners committed unreservedly to the success of the company. The thought of exposing your company’s research and inno…
Signs That Your Prime May Be Shutting You Out
Your company worked hard to establish a relationship with a prime contractor. It has already performed under one subcontract, and you and the prime contractor have successfully bid on another government contract. But you fear the prime contractor is shutting you out. And you didn't execute a teaming agreement to cover the most recent bid. In addition, your relationship with the prime contractor exhibits one or more of…
If you missed it, in July 2011, the Maryland Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs (GOMA) issued a directive setting “recommended subgoals” for spending by Maryland agencies under the state’s Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Program. Under Maryland’s MBE Program, to be eligible for certification as an MBE firm, a business must be at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. An individual is presumed to be…
