A pair of recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid protest decisions addressing impaired objectivity organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) highlight the fact-specific and highly discretionary nature of a contracting officer’s OCI investigation, as well as the important role that contractors themselves can play in supporting such an investigation. We discuss these two protests and the key takeaways for contractors below.Continue Reading A Tale of Two Impaired Objectivity Investigations: Key Takeaways for Contractors Navigating Potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest
Continued Signs of Progress in the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul
Since President Trump issued Executive Order (“E.O.”) 14275, “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement” on April 15, 2025 as part of an effort to remake Federal procurement, the Administration has undertaken a variety of initial steps to implement its so-called “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul” (“RFO”). These steps include “streamlining” each Part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) on a rolling basis to remove “non-statutory requirements.” To date, seven streamlined FAR Parts have been released on the RFO page of acquisition.gov: Parts 1, Federal Acquisition Regulation; 10, Market Research; 11, Describing Agency Needs; 18, Emergency Acquisitions; 34, Major System Acquisition; 39, Acquisition of Information and Communication Technology; and 43, Contract Modifications. The public has the opportunity to provide “informal input” for each Part—the soonest of which is to provide feedback on FAR Part 10 by July 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM ET.[1] Although the volume of streamlined FAR Parts, non-regulatory resources, and commentary on acquisition.gov has started to proliferate in recent weeks, the extent to which these resources can and will be relied on in a strategic, accessible manner by the broader acquisition community still remains to be seen. Continue Reading Continued Signs of Progress in the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul
May 2025 Cybersecurity Developments Under the Trump Administration
This is the fourth blog in a series of Covington blogs on cybersecurity policies, executive orders (“EOs”), and other actions of the new Trump Administration. This blog describes key cybersecurity developments that took place in May 2025.
CISA Releases AI Data Security Guidance
On May 22, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Continue Reading May 2025 Cybersecurity Developments Under the Trump AdministrationWhite House Issues New Cybersecurity Executive Order
On June 6, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (“Sustaining Select Efforts to Strengthen the Nation’s Cybersecurity and Amending Executive Order 13694 and Executive Order 14144”) (the “Order”) that modifies certain initiatives in prior Executive Orders issued by Presidents Obama and Biden and highlights key cybersecurity priorities for
Continue Reading White House Issues New Cybersecurity Executive OrderCISA Releases AI Data Security Guidance
On May 22, 2025, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”), which sits within the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) released guidance for AI system operators regarding managing data security risks. The associated press release explains that the guidance provides “best practices for system operators to mitigate cyber risks through
Continue Reading CISA Releases AI Data Security GuidanceDigital Force Technologies, Inc.: A “SBIR-Derived Component” Can Be Sufficient For SBIR Phase III
In a recent bid protest decision— Digital Force Technologies, Inc., B-423319 (May 19, 2025), the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) denied a protest of a Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) program Phase III sole source solicitation issued by the Air Force, concluding that the Air Force had properly procured work from a successor-in-interest entity that derives from, extends, or completes efforts under prior SBIR contracts. Notably, GAO found that a single SBIR-derived component of the overall system to be procured can be a sufficient link to prior SBIR work for an agency to exercise its authority to issue a sole source SBIR Phase III contract.
This decision builds on previous GAO decisions in ASRC Federal Data Network Technologies, LLC, B-418765, Aug. 28, 2020, 2020 CPD ¶ 339 (“ASRC II”)[1] and Toyon Research Corporation, B-409765, Aug. 5, 2014, 2014 CPD ¶ 235, in which GAO had explained that “it must be evident that the requirements for the second effort incorporated original concepts, findings, ideas, or research results that were generated in the first.”[2]
This blog post briefly summarizes background on the SBIR program and requirements for Phase III sole source awards, as backdrop to GAO’s findings in Digital Force Technologies. The post then analyzes particular aspects of GAO’s decision suggesting an expansion of existing case law in this area and concludes with a brief discussion of practical considerations for government contractors.Continue Reading Digital Force Technologies, Inc.: A “SBIR-Derived Component” Can Be Sufficient For SBIR Phase III
GAO: DCAA Built a Valuable Bench of Independent Public Accountants, Now What?
The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a report on the Defense Contract Audit Agency’s (“DCAA”) past and future use of private-sector, independent public accountants to augment its auditor workforce. The initiative—approved under Section 803 of the Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”)—began in fiscal year 2020 and was originally envisioned by Congress as a tool to reduce DCAA’s backlog of incurred cost audits. But, as GAO noted, DCAA had largely eliminated its audit backlog by the end of FY 2018, primarily through its reliance on risk-based sampling methodology, which reduced the number of audits DCAA was required to complete.Continue Reading GAO: DCAA Built a Valuable Bench of Independent Public Accountants, Now What?
Justice Department Establishes Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, Using False Claims Act to Target DEI
On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum establishing a DOJ Civil Rights Fraud Initiative. The Initiative will use the False Claims Act (“FCA”) to “investigate and . . . pursue claims against any recipient of federal funds that knowingly violates federal civil rights laws.” Educational institutions, federal contractors, grantees, and other entities that receive federal funding should take note of the latest FCA Initiative. Similar FCA initiatives, such as those focused on collusion and cybersecurity fraud, have resulted in significant related FCA enforcement.Continue Reading Justice Department Establishes Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, Using False Claims Act to Target DEI
April 2025 Cybersecurity Developments Under the Trump Administration
This is the third blog in a series of Covington blogs on cybersecurity policies, executive orders (“EOs”), and other actions of the new Trump Administration. This blog describes key cybersecurity developments that took place in April 2025.
NIST Publishes Initial Draft of Guidance for High Performance Computing Systems
U.S. National
Continue Reading April 2025 Cybersecurity Developments Under the Trump AdministrationApril 2025 AI Developments Under the Trump Administration
This is part of an ongoing series of Covington blogs on the AI policies, executive orders, and other actions of the Trump Administration. This blog describes AI actions taken by the Trump Administration in April 2025, and prior articles in this series are available here.
White House OMB Issues
Continue Reading April 2025 AI Developments Under the Trump Administration