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Jay Carey

Recognized by Chambers as one of the nation’s top bid protest lawyers and government contracts practitioners, Jay Carey represents clients in complex, high-stakes government procurements often worth billions of dollars. He is a co-chair of the firm’s Government Contracts practice group and a co-chair of the Aerospace, Defense, and National Security industry group.

Jay has won bid protests collectively worth more than $100 billion, for clients across a range of industries — including aerospace & defense, energy, healthcare, biotechnology, cybersecurity, IT, and telecommunications. He litigates protests before the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO); the Court of Federal Claims (COFC); and state tribunals across the country. A list of his recent wins can be found under the “Representative Matters” tab.

In addition, Jay advises clients on compliance matters, conducts internal investigations, and defends against investigations by federal and state agencies. He also counsels clients on matters related to the formation of government contracts, including organizational conflicts of interest and the protection of intellectual property rights when entering into procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and “Other Transaction Authority” agreements with the government.

Jay serves as co-chair of the American Bar Association Public Contract Law Section’s Bid Protest Committee.

Contact:Read more about Jay CareyEmail

As the second Trump Administration enters its third month, Covington’s Government Contracts Practice is continuing to track the latest developments related to recent executive actions.  This April version of our key developments timeline has been condensed to provide a targeted overview of the developments this month most relevant to contractors. …

Continue Reading Timeline of Key Developments Related to Recent Executive Actions:  April Edition

During his first two months in office, President Trump has taken numerous executive actions likely to impact federal government contractors and grant recipients.  This timeline highlights key developments pertaining to recent executive orders (“EOs”) and other executive actions issued by the second Trump administration.  It focuses on issues most relevant to federal contractors and grant recipients, and is divided into five topics: (1) Federal Funding; (2) DEI and Gender; (3) Energy and Environment; (4) Trade and Foreign Aid; and (5) DOGE and Federal Workforce.  Covington’s Government Contracts Practice is continuing to track these and other developments and will plan to periodically update this timeline.

This timeline provides a high-level summary of recent events and is not exhaustive. In addition, this timeline was last updated on the date provided above.  To the extent you may have questions regarding any of the developments discussed below — or other matters — please reach out to a member of Covington’s Government Contracts Practice.Continue Reading Timeline of Key Developments Related to Recent Executive Actions as of April 2, 2025

During his first two months in office, President Trump has taken numerous executive actions likely to impact federal government contractors and grant recipients.  This timeline highlights key developments pertaining to recent executive orders (“EOs”) and other executive actions issued by the second Trump administration.  It focuses on issues most relevant to federal contractors and grant recipients, and is divided into five topics: (1) Federal Funding; (2) DEI and Gender; (3) Energy and Environment; (4) Trade and Foreign Aid; and (5) DOGE and Federal Workforce.  Covington’s Government Contracts Practice is continuing to track these and other developments and will plan to periodically update this timeline.

This timeline provides a high-level summary of recent events and is not exhaustive. In addition, this timeline was last updated on the date provided above.  To the extent you may have questions regarding any of the developments discussed below — or other matters — please reach out to a member of Covington’s Government Contracts Practice.Continue Reading Timeline of Key Developments Related to Recent Executive Actions as of March 26, 2025

During his first eight weeks in office, President Trump has taken numerous executive actions likely to impact federal government contractors and grant recipients.  This timeline highlights key developments pertaining to recent executive orders (“EOs”) and other executive actions issued by the second Trump administration.  It focuses on issues most relevant to federal contractors and grant recipients, and is divided into five topics: (1) Federal Funding; (2) DEI and Gender; (3) Energy and Environment; (4) Trade and Foreign Aid; and (5) DOGE and Federal Workforce.  Covington’s Government Contracts Practice is continuing to track these and other developments and will plan to periodically update this timeline.

This timeline provides a high-level summary of recent events and is not exhaustive. In addition, this timeline was last updated on the date provided above.  To the extent you may have questions regarding any of the developments discussed below — or other matters — please reach out to a member of Covington’s Government Contracts Practice.Continue Reading Timeline of Key Developments Related to Recent Executive Actions as of March 19, 2025

On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress, and highlighted many of the actions his administration has taken during his first six weeks in office.  This timeline highlights key developments pertaining to recent executive orders (“EOs”) and other executive actions issued by the second Trump administration.  It focuses on issues most relevant to federal contractors and grant recipients, and is divided into five topics: (1) Federal Funding; (2) DEI and Gender; (3) Energy and Environment; (4) Trade and Foreign Aid; and (5) DOGE and Federal Workforce.  Covington’s Government Contracts Practice is continuing to track these and other developments and will plan to periodically update this timeline.

This document provides a high-level summary of recent events and is not exhaustive. In addition, this document was last updated on the date provided above.  To the extent you may have questions regarding any of the developments discussed below — or other matters — please reach out to a member of Covington’s Government Contracts Practice.Continue Reading Timeline of Key Developments Related to Recent Executive Actions as of March 12, 2025

On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress, and highlighted many of the actions his administration has taken during his first six weeks in office.  This timeline highlights key developments pertaining to recent executive orders (“EOs”) and other executive actions issued by the second Trump administration.  It focuses on issues most relevant to federal contractors and grant recipients, and is divided into five topics: (1) Federal Funding; (2) DEI and Gender; (3) Energy and Environment; (4) Trade and Foreign Aid; and (5) DOGE and Federal Workforce.  Covington’s Government Contracts Practice is continuing to track these and other developments and will plan to periodically update this timeline.

This post provides a high-level summary of recent events and is not exhaustive. In addition, this document was last updated on the date provided above.  To the extent you may have questions regarding any of the developments discussed below — or other matters — please reach out to a member of Covington’s Government Contracts Practice.Continue Reading Timeline of Key Developments Related to Recent Executive Actions as of March 5, 2025

As previously discussed on this blog, President Trump issued several executive orders (“EOs”) and memoranda, many of which may have implications for federal contractors and grant recipients.  During the first 30 days of the second Trump Administration, Covington’s Government Contracts Practice Group has tracked developments related to these EOs…

Continue Reading Timeline of Key Developments Related to Recent Executive Actions

In his first few days in office, President Trump issued several executive orders (“EOs”) and memoranda, many of which may have implications for federal contractors and grant recipients, including the following:Continue Reading President Trump Issues Numerous Executive Orders with Potential Impacts on Federal Contractors and Grant Recipients

Yesterday, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule that would update the U.S. Government’s approach to organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs).  While the proposed rule is not finalized and may change in response to forthcoming comments from interested parties, the proposed rule contemplates major changes to the FAR’s existing framework in this area.  In this post, we summarize the background leading up to the proposed rule and highlight key areas of proposed change.

Background

Continue Reading The Proposed FAR Rule on OCIs: Big Changes May Be Coming

In what has become an annual tradition, this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) — just passed by the Senate and sent to the President for signature — contains a provision addressing bid protests at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”).

Likely of greatest interest to contractors is that Section 885 contains language increasing the dollar threshold for protests of task order awards under a Department of Defense indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (“IDIQ”) contract, from $25,000,000 to $35,000,000.  The increased threshold would further limit the universe of task orders that can be protested under DoD IDIQ contracts. 

Section 885 also requires GAO to prepare a “Proposal for Payment of Costs for Certain Government Accountability Office Bid Protests.”  This provision is likely part of the Department of Defense’s years-long campaign to impose a “loser pays” penalty on protesters in an effort to curb what it says is a problem of frivolous protests — even though GAO’s annual bid protest statistics show that the majority of protests result in relief to the protester, as evidenced by an effectiveness rate of 52%.  DoD’s effort has dated back at least to the Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA, which included an analogous pilot program proposal. More recently, as discussed in our August 21, 2023, post entitled “Should Bid Protest Losers Pay?” Section 804 of the House-enacted NDAA for Fiscal Year 2024 included a pilot proposal for a “loser pays” program.Continue Reading NDAA Increases Threshold for Task Order Protests and Directs Another Study on Whether Losing Protesters Should Pay