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As the Senate approaches the end of its debate on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, provisions of the bill regarding access to and review of information technology code deserve close attention.  These sections, if enacted, would significantly impact Department of Defense contractors and also would affect matters associated with investments subject to review by U.S. national security agencies.

As drafted, the provisions could expose current and prospective contractors to intrusive scrutiny and significant risks.  They lack clarity on key definitions, leaving the precise scope of those risks unclear.  We summarize major issues and concerns below.  We expect these provisions to receive scrutiny during the House-Senate conference on the NDAA over the summer. 
Continue Reading Senate Armed Services Committee Proposes Expansive but Unclear Software Review Provisions

Earlier this week, both chambers on Capitol Hill took steps that would increase the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) role in the area of cybersecurity.  On the Senate side, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a DHS reauthorization bill that included amendments to rename and reorganize the DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), to increase protections for certain personally identifiable information (PII), and to emphasize the need for cybersecurity research.  On the House side, the House Homeland Security Committee approved the Cyber Incident Response Teams Act, which would establish teams within DHS devoted to cyber incident response.
Continue Reading DHS Cybersecurity Legislation Advances Through Capitol Hill

On January 19, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (“DARPA”) issued a new solicitation in the form of a broad agency announcement for the Preventing Emerging Pathogenic Threats—or “PREEMPT”—program. The program will be managed by the DARPA Biological Technologies Office, which generally supports activities that integrate biology, engineering, computer science, physical sciences, and mathematics.

The goal of the program is to support research and development relating to new tools, models, and technologies that are focused on preventing the transition of viral threats from animals to humans. In contrast to recent biodefense efforts that have largely been initiated in response to significant human outbreaks, such as in connection with Ebola, influenza, and Zika, the program targets animal-based viruses that have yet to become an active threat to humans. In addition, consistent with DARPA’s mission, the program targets animal-based viruses that have a potential to impact deployed U.S. military forces, particularly with respect to remote geographic areas associated with prevalent endemic and emerging diseases.Continue Reading DARPA Targets Animal-Based Viral Threats in Solicitation for PREEMPT Program

Last week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (“DARPA”) issued a new broad agency announcement (“BAA”) seeking proposals to support the creation of an integrated “capability platform” for the delivery of medical countermeasures to prevent a pandemic threat within sixty days of targeting a known or newly emerging pathogen.  The BAA confirms DARPA’s commitment to addressing national security concerns raised by both naturally occurring public health emergencies and bioterrorism, as well other biological threats to members of the U.S. military.  Learning from recent experiences with Ebola, Zika, and Middle East respiratory syndrome, DARPA is targeting prophylactic solutions that are designed to prevent or halt the spread of an infectious outbreak, rather than solutions intended solely or primarily to treat infected individuals.

DARPA’s approach is consistent with recent guidance from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in that it focuses on platform technologies and processes, which represent general approaches to medical countermeasure development that can be rapidly and reliably applied to varying threats.  The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has adopted a similar focus in its own platform-based BAA, and additional opportunities for platform development will likely arise in the near future under the most recent strategy and implementation plan of the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise.Continue Reading DARPA Seeks to Establish New Platforms for Rapid Development of Medical Countermeasures

On October 4th, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Final Rule implementing mandatory cyber incident reporting requirements for DoD contractors and subcontractors who have “agreements” with DoD.  The Final Rule also highlights DoD’s desire to encourage greater participation in the voluntary Defense Industrial Base (DIB) cybersecurity information sharing program.  This Rule is effective on November 3, 2016.

This Final Rule implements, in part, statutory requirements for rapidly reporting cyber incidents, including section 941 of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and sections 391 and 393 of Title 10, and follows an interim rule issued on October 2, 2015.  DoD intends for this Rule to incorporate and harmonize all of the cyber incident reporting requirements – both mandatory and voluntary – for entities that have any “agreements” with DoD.  81 Fed. Reg. 68316.  Key highlights of the Final Rule are addressed below.Continue Reading DoD Finalizes Rule on Policies for Cyber Incident Reporting

Concerns about the spread of Zika virus and potential complications associated with infection may soon lead to new research and development opportunities for government contractors and grant recipients.  Similar to developments after the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, a need to better understand Zika’s characteristics and develop an effective countermeasure or vaccine has led both domestic and international public bodies and private industry to begin mobilizing resources in response to the virus.  As a result, both new and existing contractual vehicles will likely be used to fund a wide array of activities, extending from epidemiological studies to the development of new diagnostics and countermeasures.

Similar to yellow fever, dengue, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis viruses, Zika is a flavivirus that is generally transmitted through mosquitoes.  Although Zika was first discovered in 1947, it has only recently been identified as a significant threat to public health based on a potential connection between Zika and microcephaly in newborns—a condition associated with incomplete brain development.  Recent events have also provided additional evidence of a potential link between Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is a nervous system disorder that could affect Zika’s carriers.

Previously, the virus was understood to have relatively limited consequences, only causing mild, flu-like symptoms in one of five of its hosts.  However, an outbreak of the virus in French Polynesia in 2013 and 2014 has now been associated with an increase in cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome.  In addition, an ongoing outbreak of the virus that began in Brazil last year has affected over one million individuals and been linked to both an increased incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome and a dramatic rise in cases of microcephaly.  Zika RNA has been discovered in the amniotic fluid of women with affected fetuses in Brazil, and a recent report indicates that an affected newborn in Hawaii acquired Zika in the womb.Continue Reading Zika Virus Complications Lead to Expected Government Partnership with Private Industry

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (“DTRA”) issued a broad agency announcement (“BAA”) at the end of last week seeking “near-term” solutions that can be developed in time to assist with the current (Zaire) Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa.  Expanding on the BAA under which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) is seeking solutions to Ebola, which we covered in a recent post, the BAA issued by the DTRA covers a significantly wider array of potential technologies, products, and services, including protective equipment and rapid disinfection processes.  In addition, unlike the BAA issued by HHS, the BAA issued by the DTRA is primarily seeking solutions with almost immediate results—with a number of suggested timeframes calling for a solution’s development in less than six months.

Contracts can be awarded on a fixed price, cost reimbursement, or cost plus fixed fee basis.  The BAA contemplates the potential award of a number of contract types, including indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (“IDIQ”) contracts, task orders issued under existing IDIQ contracts, and Other Transaction Agreements (“OTAs”).  Other than OTAs, contracts awarded under the BAA will be subject to FAR and DFARS requirements.Continue Reading Defense Threat Reduction Agency Seeks “Near-Term” Solutions to Ebola Outbreak

On October 17, 2025, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) announced that it plans to issue a Mass Modification to GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule (“MAS” or “Schedule”) Solicitation[1] and Schedule contracts in November 2025 (“Refresh”).  Periodically, GSA may issue a Mass Modification to Schedule contracts to uniformly impose changes to the contract terms applicable to all Schedule contract holders, often as a result of changes in applicable law, regulation, or policy.  This approach also ensures that existing Schedule contracts have consistent terms, even though with the evergreen nature of the Solicitation those contracts have been entered into at different times and are at different stages of performance.

This Refresh (i.e., Refresh #30) will implement several significant changes with the goal to align the GSA Schedule with recent developments in the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (“RFO”).[2]  Although the full text of the Refresh is not yet available, GSA’s Refresh outline provides insight into the changes that are to come as GSA seeks to gain implementation experience with the RFO clauses, provisions, and ordering procedures through its Schedule contracts.  Given GSA’s leadership of the RFO process, and this year’s Executive Order to consolidate domestic procurement of common goods and services in GSA to the extent permitted by law,[3] it is no surprise that it has acted quickly to revise its long-term government-wide contracting vehicle according to these recent developments. 

Along with the Refresh announcement, GSA opened a 10 business day comment window on buy.gsa.gov, which we expect will close on October 31, 2025.  Schedules contractors will be expected to accept the Refresh no later than 90 days from its release which is expected sometime in November.  Below we discuss relevant background on the RFO process as it relates to the Schedule and anticipated changes to provisions and clauses in the Refresh.  We will continue to watch for updates as GSA’s implementation of the RFO unfolds.    Continue Reading Overhauling the GSA Schedule

Two cornerstone authorities for federal contracting quietly expired on September 30, 2025, creating ripple effects that contractors—small and large—cannot afford to overlook.  The Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (“SBIR/STTR”) programs, commonly known as “America’s Seed Fund” for their role in fueling early-stage innovation, and the Defense Production Act…

Continue Reading Expired:  SBIR/STTR and DPA Authorities in Limbo

The Defense Production Act (DPA) has long been viewed as the primary federal mechanism for managing and supporting defense production.  Since it was enacted in September 1950—just months after the Korean War began—the DPA has armed the President with wartime-style powers to prioritize contracts, allocate scarce materials, and finance surge defense production capacity.  These DPA industrial authorities are subject to periodic reauthorization, with the current sunset set for September 30, 2025.  While the reauthorization of the DPA remains pending, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) has advanced a new NDAA provision that would convert the extant Industrial Base Fund (IBF) (10 U.S.C. section 4817) into a Pentagon-controlled toolkit that closely mirrors—but is not identical to—DPA’s Title III authorities.  The introduction of section 849A of the FY 2026 NDAA suggests that the SASC is no longer willing to entrust the re-armament of the Pentagon and revitalization of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) solely to reauthorization of the DPA—a process that lives or dies in other committees’ jurisdictions. Continue Reading Forging a Modern Strategic Production Base:  Senate Proposes Stand-Alone Defense-Production Powers for the Pentagon