Recent news reports have raised a substantial question about who has authority to run the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) in the wake of Dr. David Shulkin’s departure from the agency. According to the White House, Dr. Shulkin resigned. Meanwhile, Dr. Shulkin himself has publicly insisted that he did not resign and was instead fired. … Continue Reading
Few issues have bedeviled the GSA Schedules program as much as the provision of incidental supplies and services under Schedule orders. For years, it has been unclear how such supplies and services are to be purchased and priced, since they are not themselves on Schedule. But now, with GSA’s new Order-Level Materials (“OLM”) rule, GSA … Continue Reading
On January 31, 2018, the Department of Defense (“DoD” or the “Department”) published a final rule regarding commercial item purchasing requirements. Among other key amendments, the final rule modifies the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”) by: (i) formalizing a presumption of commerciality for items that DoD previously treated as commercial; (ii) providing commercial item … Continue Reading
On January 9, 2018, Department of Defense (“DoD”) issued Class Deviation 2018-O0009, designed to reduce barriers to entry for innovative entities through streamlining the awards process for research and development contracts. This Class Deviation allows for the use of simplified acquisition procedures and excuses certain procurement obligations when DoD awards contracts and subcontracts valued at … Continue Reading
Federal contractors may be subject to a slate of new regulations in 2018, including rules that increase cyber reporting burdens, expand small business competition, and change the procedures for competitively awarding IDIQ contracts. Among the proposed rules, announced in the Semiannual Regulatory Agenda of the FAR Council and the General Services Administration (“GSA”), are changes … Continue Reading
Over the last few months, various Senate Democrats have pushed to strengthen “Buy American” requirements applicable to Federal Government procurements. This month is no different. On December 6, 2017, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) reintroduced the 21st Century Buy American Act (S.2196), which aims to “strengthen existing Buy American standards to ensure that the U.S. government … Continue Reading
The Department of Defense (“DoD”) has updated portions of its internal guidance addressing compliance with the requirements of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”) 252.204-7012, “Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting.”… Continue Reading
As we reported late last month, one-third of the Senate Democratic caucus doubled down on efforts to keep “Buy American” protections intact for certain defense items. Now Senate Democrats are declaring a “Buy American” victory as the FY 2018 NDAA conference report revealed that some of these protections will remain.… Continue Reading
As we reported last month, four Senate Democrats published an article about “strengthen[ing]” the U.S. Government’s “Buy American policies” through certain proposed amendments to the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”). Although most of the proposed “Buy American” amendments were left out of the version of the bill that was sent to conference, 16 Senate Democrats … Continue Reading
On September 14, 2017, the Department of Defense issued a new class deviation that eliminates the requirement on major contractors to engage with the Government in technical interchange meeting prior to the generation of independent research and development (IR&D) costs. This class deviation represents a continuing reversal in position for the Pentagon, which had been … Continue Reading
Last week a group of four Senate Democrats – led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) – jointly published an article about “strengthen[ing]” the U.S. Government’s “Buy American policies.” While the senators acknowledged President Trump’s recent efforts to “re-examine the use of . . . Buy American waivers” (see our blog post regarding the “Buy … Continue Reading
On August 1, 2017, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced legislation (fact sheet) that would establish minimum cybersecurity standards for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices sold to the U.S. Government. As Internet-connected devices become increasingly ubiquitous and susceptible to evolving and complex cyber threats, the proposed bill attempts to safeguard the security of executive agencies’ … Continue Reading
[This article was originally published in Law360.] On July 21, 2017 – and during “Made in America Week” – President Trump issued Executive Order 13806 on “Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States” (the “Manufacturing EO”). The Manufacturing EO sets forth a policy stressing the … Continue Reading
In its Report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, the Senate Armed Services Committee (the “Committee”) included an “Item of Special Interest” directing the DoD to exercise its rights under the Bayh-Dole Act “to authorize third parties to use inventions that benefited from DOD funding whenever the price of a drug, … Continue Reading
The Department of State has released its 2017 Trafficking in Persons (“TIP”) Report. As with prior versions of the annual report, the State Department reviewed efforts made by more than 180 countries to address the minimum Prosecutorial, Protective, and Preventative standards necessary for effective anti-trafficking measures, as these standards are outlined in the United States’ … Continue Reading
[This article also was published in Law360.] On June 30, 2017, Commerce Secretary Ross and OMB Director Mulvaney issued a Memorandum to Federal agencies regarding the “assessment and enforcement of domestic preferences in accordance with Buy American Laws,” which includes the Buy American Act (“BAA”). Although the Memorandum purports to provide guidance to help agencies … Continue Reading
The Department of Defense (“DoD”) held an “Industry Information Day” on June 23, 2017 to address questions regarding DFARS Case 2013-D018 “Network Penetration and Reporting for Cloud Services,” including DFARS clauses 252.204-7012 “Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting” and 252.239-7010 “Cloud Computing Services.” DoD’s presentation lasted approximately four hours and covered a wide range of … Continue Reading
The Section 809 Panel recently released an interim report and supplement (the “Interim Report”) advocating in broad strokes for a host of improvements to the Department of Defense’s (“DoD”) acquisition system to better streamline the process and increase industry offerings to the government. The NDAA for FY 2016 established the Section 809 Panel to address … Continue Reading
Earlier this month the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a report titled “Department of Energy: Use of Leading Practices Could Help Manage the Risk of Fraud and Other Improper Payments” (GAO-17-235) (the “Report”). As the title suggests, GAO assessed the Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) internal controls to manage “the risk of fraud and improper … Continue Reading
Under a new FAR rule, standard language in confidentiality agreements could lead to disqualification from contracting or False Claims Act liability.… Continue Reading
[This article was originally published in Law360.] President Trump took a significant step this week towards implementing his often touted objective of protecting U.S. manufacturers and workers by signing the “Presidential Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American” (the “EO”) on April 18, 2017. In addition to addressing reforms to the H1-B visa program … Continue Reading
On March 9, 2017, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issued a Report entitled “Contracting Data Analysis — Assessment of Government-wide Trends” (the “Report”), detailing Government-wide trends in federal contracting for goods and services during the five-year period from 2011 through 2015. The report highlights trends in spending, competition, contract types, and contract recipients, and … Continue Reading
Section 820 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, Pub. L. No. 114-238, 130 Stat. 2000 (NDAA), makes three significant changes to the federal government’s future method of conducting audits and implementation of Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). First, it empowers contractors to avoid Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) audits by employing private … Continue Reading
On February 28, 2017, President Donald J. Trump addressed a joint session of Congress for the first time and outlined his plan for a “new chapter of American Greatness.” That plan included continued emphasis on protecting United States labor and manufacturing, and can be summarized in a few words often repeated by President Trump: “Buy … Continue Reading
