Blog

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate overwhelmingly approved the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 ("FY23 NDAA"). The legislation is welcome news for both the Department of Defense ("DoD") and defense contractors – the bill now heads to the President's desk for signature.

While the legislation is over 4,400 pages, covering a host of issues, one provision may have a profound impact on the defense industrial base ("DIB"): inflation relief under Section 822, Modification of Contracts to Provide Extraordinary Relief Due to Inflation ...

On November 17, 2022, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued a final rule and several interim final rules effective December 19, 2022 that upwardly adjust some of SBA’s monetary thresholds for inflation. The changes are welcome news in this period of economic uncertainty because they will ultimately help more small businesses participate in federal set-aside opportunities. As summarized below, SBA’s new rules cover three inflationary adjustments: (1) receipts-based size standards; (2) economic disadvantage thresholds; and (3) the 8(a) sole source ...

The landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (“BIL”) is a once-in-a-generation initiative to address aging U.S. infrastructure needs and equalize greater access to public resources. While the Administration continues to move with impressive speed in creating the administrative channels and oversight offices necessary to implement the billions of dollars that have been appropriated for this impressive undertaking, recipient agencies have had more difficulty in evaluating and implementing the requirements of the BIL, including the domestic sourcing preferences ...

Yesterday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published its Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2022. GAO’s annual report is required under the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (“CICA”) and provides the government contracting community with good insight into GAO’s bid protest function. [1]

Despite being just four pages (excluding GAO’s letter regarding one instance in which an agency did not follow GAO’s recommendation), [2] GAO’s report is highly informative because it showcases key bid protest statistics and ...

On October 26, 2022, John M. Tenaglia, Principal Director, Defense Pricing and Contracting, issued Class Deviation 2023-O0001 to direct contracting officers to use alternate procedures to verify small business joint venture offeror eligibility instead of using the System for Award Management ("SAM"). The Class Deviation takes effect on October 28, 2022 and remains in effect until rescinded.

Under the Class Deviation, DoD contracting officers are required to include the following statement in solicitations:

• “A small business joint venture offeror must submit, with its ...

Numerous changes to the Buy American Act (“BAA”) have been proposed and implemented in recent years, with another one coming this week. Beginning tomorrow, on October 25, 2022, the domestic content requirement for components in non-ferrous manufactured end products and construction materials will increase from 55% to 60%. This increase will be the first of three phased increases for such products implemented under the Biden Administration.

As a brief recap, the BAA is a domestic preference statute that encourages federal agencies to procure manufactured end products or ...

On June 16, 2022, the Department of Defense ("DoD") issued a memorandum on cybersecurity compliance, Contractual Remedies to Ensure Contractor Compliance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Clause 252.204-7012, for contracts and orders not subject to Clause 252.204-7020; and Additional Considerations Regarding National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 Department of Defense Assessments. The memo is important for defense contractors because it reminds procuring officials of alternative remedies and tools that are ...

Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration ("SBA") published a final rule that changes the lookback period for employee-based size standards from 12 months to 24 months. The final rule takes effect on July 6, 2022 and is welcome news for contractors that operate under North American Industry Classification Systems ("NAICS") codes with employee-based size standards.

Specifically, the final rule implements section 863 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116-283 ("2021 NDAA”), which amended portions of the Small Business Act to change ...

Recently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issued a report on the continuing challenges and opportunities for the Department of Defense (“DOD”) in space acquisitions. GAO’s report, which was timely published during the 37th Annual Space Symposium, reflects the current rise of space systems in military and national security operations. The report also unearths challenges and opportunities related to space acquisitions stemming from a new acquisition process, the Space Force, growth in the commercial space industry, and evolving threats in ...

We recently wrote about the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' (“OFCCP”) upcoming requirement for contractors to certify their affirmative action program ("AAP") compliance starting March 31, 2022. In forging ahead with its oversight function, on March 15, 2022, the OFCCP issued Directive 2022-01, Pay Equity Audits (the “Directive”), which requires contractors to produce internal pay equity analyses as part of their audit responses. This is the first OFCCP directive under the Biden Administration and it adds yet another significant element to ...