On April 18, 2022, the government released its annual report on federal suspension and debarment activities for FY 2020.  The report is published by the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee (“ISDC”) to fulfill its obligation annually to update Congress on the status of the government’s suspension and debarment program across all executive agencies.  While the facts and figures are somewhat dated, the FY 2020 Report nevertheless provides useful insights into federal suspension debarment trends that are relevant to the government contracting community.  Below we highlight the three biggest takeaways from this year’s ISDC report.
Continue Reading Federal Debarments and Suspensions Hit Ten Year Low, According to FY 2020 Report

On April 18, 2022, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) published a memorandum entitled “Initial Implementation Guidance on Application of Buy America Preference in Federal Financial Assistance Programs for Infrastructure” (“OMB Guidance”).  OMB M-22-11.  The OMB Guidance supplements the Build America, Buy America Act (“BABA”) provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”), which was enacted in November 2021.  In addition, OMB issued a Notice of Listening Sessions and Request for Information (“RFI”) on April 21, 2022 seeking public input on BABA implementation.  Public comments are due by May 23, 2022.
Continue Reading Infrastructure Update: OMB Issues New Buy America Guidance for Federal Infrastructure Projects

This is the eleventh in a series of Covington blogs on implementation of Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” issued by President Biden on May 12, 2021 (the “Cyber EO”).  The first blog summarized the Cyber EO’s key provisions and timelines, and the second through tenth blogs described the actions taken by various Government agencies to implement the EO from June 2021 through February 2022, respectively.  This blog summarizes key actions taken to implement the Cyber EO during March 2022.  As with steps taken during prior months, the actions described below reflect the implementation of the EO within the Government.  However, these activities portend further actions, potentially in or before June 2022, that are likely to impact government contractors, particularly those who provide software products or services to the Government.
Continue Reading March 2022 Developments Under President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order

Given the growing attention in U.S. military assistance to foreign allies and the applicable ground rules, Covington has prepared a primer to understanding the basics of foreign military sales, foreign military financing, and direct commercial sales.  Covington features a multi-disciplinary team of government contracts, export controls, anticorruption, and corporate attorneys…
Continue Reading Covington Primer on Foreign Military Sales and Financing

On March 18, 2022, the Department of Defense published a final rule in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement implementing its “enhanced” debriefing process.  That process originated in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 and had previously been implemented via a class deviation.

The DOD enhanced debriefing process — which applies to procurements under FAR Part 15, and to task order competitions under FAR 16.505 — has two hallmarks:Continue Reading DOD Issues Final DFARS Rule on Enhanced Debriefing Process

Many contractors are familiar with the Davis-Bacon Act (“DBA”), the statute that requires government contractors to pay prevailing wages to workers employed in the construction, alteration, or repair of buildings or other public works.  The DBA is enforced by the Department of Labor, which is responsible for issuing the “wage determinations” that list the prevailing wages for different labor categories within a geographical area and for promulgating regulations used to implement the DBA’s requirements.

On March 18, 2022, the Department issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”), announcing that it intends to make a number of revisions to the DBA regulations.  In the Department’s view, these revisions represent the largest change to the DBA regulations since the last major rewrite in 1981.Continue Reading Department of Labor Proposes Overhaul to Davis-Bacon Act Regulations

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022, a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package to fund the government through September 2022.  The omnibus spending package includes the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (the “Act”), which establishes two cyber incident reporting requirements for…
Continue Reading President Biden Signs Critical Infrastructure Ransomware Payment and Cyber Incident Reporting into Law

On March 8, 2022, the Department of Justice announced the first settlement of a case under the Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative.  Established in October 2021, the Initiative aims to utilize the government’s authority under the civil False Claims Act to pursue alleged instances of fraud and misrepresentation concerning cyber practices.  (We previously wrote about the Initiative here.)  The Initiative has been a point of emphasis in DOJ speeches and public comments in recent months.  This settlement is a milestone in the rollout of the program and confirmation that DOJ intends to take allegations of cyber fraud seriously.
Continue Reading First Settlement of DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative

This is the tenth in a series of Covington blogs on implementation of Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” issued by President Biden on May 12, 2021 (the “Cyber EO”).  The first blog summarized the Cyber EO’s key provisions and timelines, and the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth blogs described the actions taken by various Government agencies to implement the EO from June 2021 through January 2022, respectively.

This blog summarizes key actions taken to implement the Cyber EO during February 2022.  As with steps taken during prior months, the actions described below reflect the implementation of the EO within the Government.  However, these activities portend further actions in March 2022 that are likely to impact government contractors, particularly those who provide software products or services to government agencies.Continue Reading February 2022 Developments Under President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order

On February 23, 2022, Gregory E. Demske, Chief Counsel to the Inspector General for HHS’s Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), provided opening remarks and answered questions during the Federal Bar Association’s annual Qui Tam Conference.  Mr. Demske spoke about OIG’s role in False Claims Act (“FCA”) enforcement and resolutions, and discussed enforcement priorities for the upcoming year.
Continue Reading Senior HHS Official Discusses Role of OIG in FCA Resolutions and Enforcement Priorities for 2022