As you may recall, Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 2018 NDAA required the US Department of Defense (DoD) to draft regulations to establish comprehensive post-award debriefing rights for disappointed offerors involved in applicable DoD procurements. On March 22, 2018, the DoD responded by issuing a Class Deviation that implemented certain FY 2018 NDAA requirements—i.e., those requirements affording disappointed offerors the opportunity to submit additional written questions to the cognizant DoD agency within two business days of its agency debriefing conducted in accordance with FAR 15.506(d). In such circumstances, the cognizant DoD agency must provide written responses to the questions within five business days after receipt of the questions. Moreover, if a disappointed offeror chooses to submit timely post-debriefing questions, the debriefing does not conclude—and thus the disappointed offeror’s GAO protest “clock” does not begin to run—until the agency provides its written response. On May 20, 2021, the DoD published a Proposed Rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to (1) codify the March 2018 Class Deviation and (2) implement the additional post-award debriefing requirements from the FY 2018 NDAA.
Continue Reading DoD Issues Proposed Rule on Enhanced Post-Award Debriefing Rights
Prevention v. Cure: Supply Chain Hygiene Is the Key to Defending Enforcement
As COVID-19 antibodies begin flooding the immune systems of most Americans, it is important to remember the important role that hygiene has played over the past fifteen months. For many, the risks and dangers of the pandemic were kept at bay by hand washing, masking, and sanitizing after every new touch. That same kind of attention to hygiene is something federal contractors should retain as they are permitted to reenter a world filled with supply chain enforcement risk.
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I Will Find You: DOJ Uses Its Particular Set of Skills to Enforce Domestic Preference Rules
“Now, the next part is very important…”
As scrutiny of domestic preference requirements increases in the wake of the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers, the time is now for contractors to brush up on those requirements, examine supply chains to identify non-domestic content, and implement internal policies and procedures to ensure they are compliant with the domestic preference rules applicable to their contracts. On May 20, 2021, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced a settlement under which a contractor agreed to pay $54,983 and implement “enhanced compliance measures” to resolve claims arising from its use of Chinese-made parts during a fire alarm installation and renovation project at Amtrak’s 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, PA. While the settlement amount is relatively minimal, the settlement is remarkable in that it telegraphs that funding agencies, along with the Department of Justice (DOJ), are willing to go to great lengths to be a nightmare for suppliers that do not adhere to the “Buy America” statutes and regulations.Continue Reading I Will Find You: DOJ Uses Its Particular Set of Skills to Enforce Domestic Preference Rules