Antitrust

On October 17, 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published a report on mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) in the defense industrial base. The report details the current M&A review process of the Department of Defense (“DOD”) and provides recommendations to proactively assess M&A competition risks.Continue Reading GAO Recommends Increased Guidance for DOD Mergers & Acquisitions Review

On the heels of the FTC’s opposition to Lockheed Martin’s acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne and Lockheed’s termination of the deal, the Department of Defense (DoD) released a report expressing concerns about the state of competition among its contractors.  Of particular note, the report encourages DoD action to (1) increase oversight of M&A transactions and (2) obtain greater IP rights in matters involving defense industrial base contractors.  Although the report is light on specifics and identifies objectives that are in some tension with each other, the report is a reminder to companies that the U.S. Government, the single largest purchaser in the country, remains focused on enhancing competition. To that end, we anticipate seeing Executive Branch action in the coming months that seeks to further that policy objective.
Continue Reading DoD Signals Increased Scrutiny of Gov Con M&A and Renewed Interest in Background IP Rights

Just over a year after launching the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (“PCSF”), the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) announced new measures to further its pursuit of antitrust and related crimes in government procurement, grant, and program funding.  These changes expand the PCSF’s enforcement capacity and signal DOJ’s enduring—and intensifying—commitment to the PCSF’s mission.

The PCSF has added 11 new national partners: the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and nine new U.S. Attorneys.  As a result, the growing PCSF coalition now includes 29 agencies and offices, including U.S. Attorneys in 22 federal judicial districts; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Offices of Inspectors General at six federal agencies.  The PCSF also named the Antitrust Division’s Daniel Glad as the Strike Force’s first permanent director, solidifying the PCSF’s institutional role at DOJ.  Glad previously served as an Assistant Chief at the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office.
Continue Reading Expansion of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force

On February 18, 2020, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”) Inspector General Geoffrey Cherrington announced that special agents from WMATA would be partnering with the Department of Justice’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force (“PCSF”) to prevent and detect fraud affecting WMATA.  The announcement portends a growing partnership amongst federal, state, and local entities in the procurement fraud space that could reverberate well beyond the Washington metro area.
Continue Reading A Coalition Grows: What WMATA’s Partnership with the Procurement Collusion Strike Force Means for Government Contractors

In an apparent reaction to recent efforts by the Department of Defense to obtain authority to approve mergers in the defense industry on national security grounds, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission today issued a Joint Statement explaining the standard of review that the antitrust agencies use when evaluating proposed transactions in the defense industry.  In this Joint Statement, the antitrust agencies assert that by protecting competition, they already are protecting national security by maintaining multiple sources of products and services and the most innovative technologies to support our military personnel, all at competitive prices.
Continue Reading FTC and DoJ Question DoD’s Proposed National Security Trump Card