As federal spending for Operation Inherent Resolve surpasses the $1 billion mark, the U.S. military campaign against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria has a new oversight team.  Late last month, the Honorable Jon T. Rymer, Inspector General for the Department of Defense (“DoD”), was designated lead inspector general (“IG”) for this overseas contingency operation.  Mr. Rymer is the first lead IG designated in response to an amendment to the Inspector General Act (“the Act”).  As required by the Act, he will oversee this mission in conjunction with the Department of State and the Agency for International Development (“AID”) Offices of Inspector General.

In the past, special IG offices have provided oversight to overseas contingency operations, such as the reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  These oversight bodies can have positive implications for government contractors performing in these regions.  For instance, as we have discussed previously, a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (“SIGAR”) report found that the Afghan government levied nearly a billion dollars of tax on contractors supporting the mission in Afghanistan despite bilateral agreements negotiated between the U.S. and Afghan governments that exempted the contractors from at least some of the levied taxes.

However, unlike SIGAR and other special IG offices that Congress has created on an ad hoc basis, Mr. Rymer’s designation came as the result of an amendment to the Act, which provides that a lead IG (and associate IGs, as necessary) must be designated as a matter of course for an overseas contingency operation that exceeds sixty days.  The lead IG must be chosen from the IGs for the DoD, Department of State, or AID.  This amendment was part of the Comprehensive Contingency Contracting Reform Act championed by Senator Claire McCaskill and enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.

The Act tasks the lead IG for an overseas contingency operation with, among other things, creating a joint strategic plan to conduct a comprehensive oversight of “all aspects” of the contingency operation.  This oversight includes performing audits, investigations, and inspections—either independently or jointly with the Department of State and AID Offices of Inspector General—to ensure oversight of “all programs and operations” conducted by the federal government in support of the overseas contingency operation.

The Act also charges the lead IG with assessing “the accuracy of information provided by Federal agencies relating to obligations and expenditures, costs of programs and projects, accountability of funds, and the award and execution of major contracts, grants, and agreements in support of the contingency operation.”  The IG must present to Congress and make available to the public a bi-annual report concerning the oversight efforts of the lead and associate IGs, including the status and results of any audits, investigations, and inspections.

With the first report coming in April 2015, the implications and effectiveness of this new approach to oversight with respect to overseas contingency operations is not yet clear.  Indeed, the oversight authority provided by the Act is arguably quite broad, allowing for oversight of “all aspects” of the overseas contingency operation.  We will continue to closely watch how this authority is put into practice as Mr. Rymer becomes the first lead inspector general designated to provide oversight under this new provision.

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Photo of Jennifer Plitsch Jennifer Plitsch

Jennifer Plitsch leads the firm’s Government Contracts Practice Group, where she works with clients on a broad range of issues arising from both defense and civilian contracts including contract proposal, performance, and compliance questions as well as litigation, transactional, and legislative issues.

She…

Jennifer Plitsch leads the firm’s Government Contracts Practice Group, where she works with clients on a broad range of issues arising from both defense and civilian contracts including contract proposal, performance, and compliance questions as well as litigation, transactional, and legislative issues.

She has particular expertise in advising clients on intellectual property and data rights issues under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and obligations imposed by the Bayh-Dole Act, including march-in and substantial domestic manufacturing. Jen also has significant experience in negotiation and compliance under non-traditional government agreements including Other Transaction Authority agreements (OTAs), Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), Cooperative Agreements, Grants, and Small Business Innovation Research agreements.

For over 20 years, Jen’s practice has focused on advising clients in the pharmaceutical, biologics and medical device industry on all aspects of both commercial and non-commercial agreements with various government agencies including:

  • the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA);
  • the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC);
  • the Department of Defense (DoD), including the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical Biological Defense (JPEO-CBRN); and
    the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

She regularly advises on the development, production, and supply to the government of vaccines and other medical countermeasures addressing threats such as COVID-19, Ebola, Zika, MERS-CoV, Smallpox, seasonal and pandemic influenza, tropical diseases, botulinum toxin, nerve agents, and radiation events. In addition, for commercial drugs, biologics, and medical devices, Jen advises on Federal Supply Schedule contracts, including the complex pricing requirements imposed on products under the Veterans Health Care Act, as well as on the obligations imposed by participation in the 340B Drug Pricing program.

Jen also has significant experience in domestic sourcing compliance under the Buy American Act (BAA) and the Trade Agreements Act (TAA), including regulatory analysis and comments, certifications, investigations, and disclosures (including under the Acetris decision and Biden Administration Executive Orders). She also advises on prevailing wage requirements, including those imposed through the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Labor Standards.

Photo of Alexander Hastings Alexander Hastings

Alex Hastings advises clients across a broad range of government contracting issues, including advising clients in transactional matters involving government contractors and assisting defense contractors and pharmaceutical companies in securing and performing government contracts.

Mr. Hastings also advises clients concerning best practices in…

Alex Hastings advises clients across a broad range of government contracting issues, including advising clients in transactional matters involving government contractors and assisting defense contractors and pharmaceutical companies in securing and performing government contracts.

Mr. Hastings also advises clients concerning best practices in e-discovery. He assists in investigations and litigations that involve complex e-discovery issues and has represented clients in matters involving the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States International Trade Commission.

Mr. Hastings’ government contracts experience includes advising clients regarding new developments in regulatory requirements, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s (FAR) anti-human trafficking requirements and the FAR and Bayh-Dole Act’s intellectual property provisions. Mr. Hastings also provides due diligence regulatory advice to clients contemplating the acquisition of government contracting entities or assets.

Mr. Hastings’ e-discovery experience includes advising a wide-array of clients on best practices in information governance and document collection and assisting clients develop effective mobile device and document management policies.

Mr. Hastings also maintains an active pro bono practice and routinely writes on issues related to government contracts and e-discovery.