Washington Legislative Update: SimTech | November 7 Update

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UPDATE

Now on day 36 of the government shutdown, Congressional leaders continue to work to find ways to end the impasse. On November 4^th, this shutdown became the longest in history.

Bipartisan negotiators may be close to finalizing a “mini-package” of three appropriations bills, which would be the vehicle for ending the government shutdown. The three appropriations bills in the package are Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Legislative Branch. However, there are many challenges facing both parties prior to approval, including a new stopgap expiration date, possibly in December or January. Negotiations are planned to continue through the weekend of November 8 and 9.

Items of note:

• The Republican leadership continues to urge the passage of a clean Continuing Resolution, and the Democratic leadership continues to call for the renewal of the Affordable Care Act subsidies;
• Service men and women received their pay on October 31^st but the outlook is in question about the paycheck on November 15, without the shutdown ending;
• Air travel will face more challenges as the U.S. Dept. of Transportation and the F.A.A. are reducing air traffic by 10 percent at 40 major hubs. This step was taken to reduce the pressure on air traffic controllers.

[from JDS 11/5/2025, Politico Pro 11/5/2025, and New York Times 11/6/2025]

DEFENSE

A first look at Hegseth’s acquisition overhaul
The Pentagon is kick-starting a sweeping overhaul of how it develops and buys new weapons, a massive restructuring that must be completed within two years.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to formally unveil the six-page document — titled “Transforming the Warfighting Acquisition System” — on Friday, November 7.

“Speed to capability delivery is now our organizing principle,” the unsigned and undated draft memo reads. “Every process, board, and review must justify its existence by demonstrating how it accelerates capability delivery to meet warfighter needs.”

The draft gives Pentagon planners little time to implement the overhaul. Within 45 days, the Pentagon’s acquisition chief must issue guidance and within 60 days, each military service will provide its implementation plans.

The plan aims to reform existing program executive offices at the Pentagon into new “Portfolio Acquisition Executives” or PAEs, who will oversee consolidated program offices. Program managers would report directly to these new portfolio heads, who would be empowered to make cost, schedule and performance trade-offs — and answer to their “Service Acquisition Executive” with “no intermediate offices or approval layers.”

That would mark a significant break from the current, multilayered acquisition hierarchy, where major programs typically pass through several offices before reaching top decision-makers — a structure long blamed for delays and risk-averse oversight.

The draft framework stresses the elimination of unnecessary red tape and gives the PAEs authority to shift funding within defined limits, waive technical standards and adopt modular, open-system standards — acquisition speak for plug-and-play systems for components and software.

Hegseth is far from the first official in Washington to champion acquisition reforms. This time, moving more authorities to the Acquisition and Sustainment office comes with a problem: attrition and buyouts under the Trump administration have left many desks vacant, with no plans to refill many of those positions, said one person familiar with the situation, who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Each portfolio must produce a scorecard within 180 days, measuring how long it takes to move a capability from a validated need to initial and full operational fielding. These metrics will feed into monthly “Acquisition Acceleration Reviews” chaired by the Pentagon’s weapons chief — now Michael Duffey — aimed at tracking progress and removing roadblocks.

The guidance also calls for a commercial-first approach to contracts, including broader use of flexible “other transaction authorities.” 

[from Politico Pro, 11/3/2025]
[Transforming the Warfighting System Document]

FY 2026 APPROPRIATIONS BILLS: STATUS

Highlighting 5 of 12 Appropriations Bills (No Change from 10/27/2025 Update)

Commerce-Justice-Science

• House: House Appropriations Committee passed H.R. 5342 on 9/10/2025. Awaits action by full House.
• Senate: Senate Appropriations Committee passed H.R. 2354 on 7/17/2025. Awaits action by full Senate.

Defense

• House: Full House passed H.R. 4016 on 7/18/2025.
• Senate: Senate Appropriations Committee passed S. 2572 on 7/31/2025. Awaits action by full Senate.

Homeland Security

• House: House Appropriations Committee passed H.R. 4213 on 6/24/2025. Awaits action by full House.
• Senate: Awaits action by Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

Military Construction-Veterans Affairs

• House: Full House passed H.R. 3944 on 6/25/2025.
• Senate: Full Senate passed H.R. 3944 on 8/1/2025.

State-Foreign Operations

• House: House Appropriations Committee passed H.R. 4779 on 7/23/2025. Awaits action by full House.
• Senate: Awaits action by Senate State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.

[from Politico Pro 11/6/2025]

APPROPRIATIONS

Last Tuesday’s redistricting vote in California has forced Representative Ken Calvert, the Chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, into a primary with fellow Republican Representative Young Kim. Calvert has represented California’s 41^st District since 1993 but now will run against Rep. Kim in this new 40^th District. Kim has represented the 40^th District since 2021.

Rep. Calvert has won close general elections in recent years in his 41^st District but now will face Rep. Kim in a solidly Republican 40^th District. Due to Republican leadership term-limit rules, Rep. Calvert will likely no longer be the Defense Subcommittee Chair after the 2026 election, assuming he prevails in the Primary and General Election.

In March of this year, Rep. Calvert visited Huntsville at the request of Rep. Dale Strong. 

[from Politico Pro 11/5/2025, 11/6/2025]

FEDERAL CONTRACTORS

Contractor Rights and Remedies in a Shutdown of Extraordinary Length
The extended duration of the October 2025 shutdown, which will soon be the longest in history, adds a new level of uncertainty and pressure for federal contractors and subcontractors. Does the shutdown excuse the government from paying invoices that come due during the shutdown? Can the government require contractors to work without payment? What relief can contractors expect for delays, cost increases, and other impacts of the shutdown? What options are available for contractors and subcontractors that are simply unable to perform without timely payment?

While there is no one-size-fits-all shutdown playbook that answers all of these questions, the guiding principles that appear in a few key contract clauses and decisions from prior cases should inform every contractor’s approach to the shutdown.

1. The contract defines the government’s obligations and the contractor’s rights and remedies, even during a shutdown. Raytheon recovered layoff pay and subcontractor costs paid to personnel whose work locations were inaccessible during the 1995 government shutdown because the contract assigned the risk that NOAA’s offices would be closed to the government. See Raytheon STX Corp. v. Department of Commerce (1999). A logging contractor was unable to recover income lost during the 2013 shutdown because the contract stated that interruptions were expected. L&L Excavating & Land Clearing, LLC v. Department of Agriculture (2014).
2. The government may not cite the shutdown as a basis for withholding or delaying payments due under a contract. Most federal contracts provide for payment no later than 30 days after a contractor’s supplies or services are accepted or the designated billing office receives a “proper invoice. ” FAR 52. 232-5, FAR 52. 232-27, FAR 52. 216-7. In many cases—including construction contracts in which progress payments are computed on a percentage-of-completion basis—the Prompt Payment Act requires the government to pay interest on late payments “automatically, without request from the Contractor.” Contractual payment deadlines are notconditioned on the availability of funds, the operational status of the designated payment office, or the physical presence of the individual authorizing payment. According to one GAO report, DOD paid almost $21 million in late-payment penalties in FY 2011, and that figure is likely understated.
3. Contractors are not required to work for free but should be cautious in making the decision to stop work. The government’s failure to pay or direction to proceed without payment may be a breach of contract. But there is no simple hard-and-fast rule that defines when a delayed payment or an improper direction constitutes a “material” breach of contract. A contractor that stops work risks default termination and may face a government claim for excess costs paid to another contractor. The government bears the burden of proof in a contested default termination case, but winning is time-consuming, expensive, and not guaranteed.
4. The Sovereign Acts Doctrine is likely not an effective limit on the government’s contractual liability resulting from the government shutdown. The decision in Conner Bros. Constr. Co. v. Geren (2008), does not itself suggest that the Sovereign Acts Doctrine is a viable defense to a shutdown claim. In Conner Brothers, the court found that restricting access to a military base immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks was a sovereign act. It was “public and general” and the effects on the contractor were “incidental” to the government’s national security objective. The government will have difficulty making the case that government acts and omissions during a shutdown meet this standard. And apart from Conner Brothers, the government’s reliance on the Sovereign Acts Doctrine has met with limited success. The Armed Services Board rejected DLA’s use of the Sovereign Acts Doctrine to avoid a contractor claim for excess warehouse costs after the United States withdrew troops from Iraq. Anham FZCO (2017). When President Reagan made the decision to limit the federal government’s involvement in the commercial satellite industry after the 1986 Challenger tragedy, the Federal Circuit rejected NASA’s use of the Sovereign Acts Doctrine to avoid liability for breaching a contract to launch commercial satellites, Hughes Communications Galaxy, Inc. v. United States, (1993). Even a 2019 Congressional Research Service memo explains that contractors generally have a right to additional compensation for halting and restarting work pursuant to a Stop-Work Order issued during a shutdown.
5. The availability of a contractual remedy for an impact of a government shutdown is not a blank check. Contractors must show that they are entitled to payment. Those seeking additional compensation will always be required to show that their incurred costs are reasonable. The reasonableness of a contractor’s actions in reducing the cost impact of a compensable delay is also an important consideration. Even when there is clear entitlement and no question as to cost reasonableness, contractors cannot expect to recoup everything they spend.
6. Contractors should take steps to preserve their rights and document cost and schedule impacts of the shutdown. The contractor in Garco Construction, Inc. v. Secretary of the Army (2017), was unsuccessful not because the government proved that it restricted the contractor’s base access in its capacity as the sovereign, but because the contractor “never formally requested a time extension.” Giving timely written notice to the contracting officer, modifying release language, and attending to other seemingly ministerial contract administration tasks, is always a good idea.
7. When submitting a request for equitable adjustment or claim, contractors should include an appropriately detailed narrative of the factual and legal basis for both entitlement and quantum, a signed certification when it is required, and appropriate supporting documents. These issues have been cited as a basis for jurisdictional and procedural questions that stand in the way of resolving matters on the merits.
8. Contractors should consider engaging consultants and outside counsel early in the process. Using qualified consultants to assist in evaluating entitlement, preparing a request for equitable adjustment, and negotiating an equitable adjustment leads to better results. And as long as they are not incurred in connection with pursuing a “claim” against the United States, professional and consulting costs are allowable costs of contract administration under FAR 31. 205-33. 

[from JDS, 11/3/2025] 

What Can Employers Expect as the Government Shutdown Continues
[Highlights from this article]

• Employers who have federal contracts can likely expect late or delayed payments and project delays and disruptions, which may result in the need to furlough or lay off employees. Delayed payments can make it difficult for some employers to pay subcontractors or employees, which can raise various legal issues, including potential litigation or considerations under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) or similar state laws, depending on the size of the layoffs.
• The E-Verify system, which is funded by the federal government, is unavailable during the shutdown, so employers will be unable to initiate queries, access cases, or resolve tentative nonconfirmations. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is responsible for conducting I-9 audits and raids, will continue to operate and may subject employers to additional scrutiny, especially because employers still remain liable for I-9 violations and any unauthorized employment during the shutdown.
• Tips Going Forward
  • The shutdown has not suspended an employer’s obligation to comply with its federal obligations, such as I-9 compliance or compliance with OSHA standards, and employers should ensure continued compliance with federal regulations, obligations, and requirements.
  • While dealing with potentially unpredictable situations, be proactive and anticipate and address issues before they arise. Seek legal counsel when necessary to help understand employee rights or other legal issues.
  • Prepare to address concerns with employee morale and communicate openly with employees about the impacts on business or employees caused by the shutdown.
  • Expect and prepare for any backlog to be processed once agencies begin working after the shutdown is resolved and for continued delays for some time as operations return to normal. 

[from JDS 10/31/2025]

POLITICAL

Federal Stakeholders (with roles related to defense) representing SimTech. (No Change from 10/27/2025 Update)

Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.)

Committee on Appropriations

• Subcommittees
  • Homeland Security, Chair
  • Commerce, Justice, and Science
  • Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
  • Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
  • Energy and Water Development
  • State, Foreign Operations

*Sen. Britt is up for re-election in 2028.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)

Committee on Armed Services

• Subcommittees
  • Personnel, Chair
  • Strategic Forces
  • Seapower

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

Special Committee on Aging

*Sen. Tuberville is not running for re-election to the Senate. He has announced his candidacy for Alabama’s Governor, where he is the current frontrunner. There are multiple candidates that have already announced their candidacy for the open Senate seat, including current Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL 01), and others.

Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala. CD5)

Committee on Appropriations

• Subcommittees
• Commerce, Justice, and Science, Vice Chair
• Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development
• Legislative Branch

Committee on Homeland Security

• Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, Chair

*As of this update, Rep. Strong does not have a Primary Election challenger. He is likely in a strong position to win against the Democratic Candidate in the General Election on November 3, 2026.

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala. CD4)

Committee on Appropriations

• Subcommittees
• Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Chair
• Defense
• Agriculture 

*Rep. Aderholt will likely have a Primary Election challenger, but is likely in strong position to win in the Primary on May 19, 2026 and against the Democratic Candidate in the General Election on November 3, 2026.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala. CD3)

House Armed Services Committee, Chair

*Rep. Rogers will likely have a Primary Election challenger, but is likely in strong position to win in the Primary on May 19, 2026 and against the Democratic Candidate in the General Election on November 3, 2026.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)

Committee on Armed Services

• Subcommittees
• Seapower, Chair
• Personnel
• Readiness and Management Support

Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs

Committee on Foreign Relations

Committee on the Budget

Special Committee on Aging

*Sen. Scott is up for re-election in 2030.

Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.)

Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs

Special Committee on Aging

*Sen. Moody was appointed in January 2025 after Sen. Marco Rubio became U.S. Secretary of State. Sen. Moody will run for re-election in a special Republican Primary on August 18, 2026.

Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-Fla. CD1)

Committee on Small Business

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

* Rep. Patronis was elected in a Special Election in April of 2025 to fill the seat of former Rep. Matt Gaetz. Patronis will face multiple challengers in the Republican Primary on August 18, 2026. The General Election is November 3, 2026.

NOTE: This newsletter is a compilation of news articles, analysis, and discussions. While the sources are cited, the information may have been edited for brevity, relevance, or clarity.