The Government’s enforcement of contract provisions implementing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate with regard to federal contractors and subcontractors required by President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 (the EO) was preliminarily enjoined by a federal court in Kentucky in a case brought by the states of Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee (and two Ohio sheriffs). In his Opinion and Order of November 30, 2021 (the Order), Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (the Kentucky court) concluded, among other findings, that it was likely that the President exceeded his authority under laws delegating to the President management of federal procurement and requiring federal agencies to engage in “full and open competition” procurements. The court also raised concerns about whether the President’s actions violated the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution and the “nondelegation doctrine,” a constitutional principle recognized by the US Supreme Court that Congress does not have unlimited discretion in delegating to the President the power to make laws.
Continue Reading Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate Enjoined in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee: The Implications
Dan Kelly
Mr. Kelly brings over thirty years of experience to the firm’s government contracts group. His practice combines both counseling and acting as an advocate on behalf of clients doing business in the government marketplace. Mr. Kelly has knowledge of the government contracting process both on a federal and state level, and the specific laws, regulations, contract clauses and dispute resolution mechanisms in this specialized area. He provides advice and guidance to clients who are in the government supply chain, either as prime contractors, subcontractors or vendors. He reviews government solicitations with clients, prepares proposals, and negotiates teaming arrangements and subcontracts with other suppliers. He helps clients build and enhance their compliance programs. He assists clients in protecting their intellectual property and proprietary information concerning their businesses when doing business with the government. He advocates for clients who wrongfully were passed over for a contract award. He prepares claims arising under government contracts as a result of change orders, delays, and terminations for default or convenience. Mr. Kelly’s practice extends to a broad spectrum of industries and federal and state authorities for whom they supply research, products and services including, Medicare and Medicaid audit and investigation service providers; commercial software developers who modify their software for military applications; professional services providers for federal and state-sponsored hurricane relief efforts; raw materials and component suppliers to large military prime contractors; and biomedical and pharma research facilities working under SBIRs, CRADAs, and grants for health agencies.
Important Updates on Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate—Deadline Extended and Flexibility Added
UPDATE: The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued updated Guidance on November 10 confirming that the date a covered employee must be fully vaccinated is January 18, 2022.
With the addition of new answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on November 1, and the November 4 “Fact Sheet” issued by the White House accompanying the rollout of the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccination requirements for, respectively, employers with 100 or more employees and health care workers and facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid, federal contractors have been given additional breathing room to address recalcitrant covered employees who are resisting the vaccination mandate.Continue Reading Important Updates on Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate—Deadline Extended and Flexibility Added
Summary of Agency Class Deviations Implementing Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate
The Government Contracts and Global Trade Group is pleased to provide a summary of some of the key class deviations and other memoranda published by U.S. Government agencies implementing the federal contractor COVID-19 vaccine mandate (Executive Order 14042). You may find a complete listing of all class deviations at Acquisition.gov.
To view summary click
This Will Only Hurt a Bit: The GSA Mandates COVID-19 Vaccines in Nearly All Existing Contract Types
The General Services Administration (GSA) released its Class Deviation CD-2021-13 (the GSA Deviation), which, effective immediately, “provides instructions for the GSA acquisition workforce on when to include a new clause [i.e., Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.223-99] (the Clause) in GSA solicitations and contracts and contract-like instruments.” Unlike the recent instructions and directions provided by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC) and the Department of Defense (DoD) and its DFARS Class Deviation (discussed in detail here), the GSA provided “GSA-specific implementation timelines for solicitations, new contracts, and existing contracts” to ensure that by October 8, 2021, all covered solicitations, new contracts, and existing contracts subject to Executive Order 14042, “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors” (EO 14042), adhere to its mandates and the evolving guidance issued by the Safer Federal Task Force. This implementation includes the insertion of the Clause into new and existing GSA solicitations and Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts awarded after October 15, 2021, and new contracts and leases awarded after November 14, 2021. The instruction applies broadly even to solicitations or contracts that have a value equal to or less than the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT) or are for the supply of products (either solely for products or for products and services). Moreover, the GSA is instructing its contracting officers to issue a letter to all existing contractors asking for their consent to a modification including the Clause. The end result is the expectation that virtually all GSA contracts and contract-like instruments will require all covered employees to be fully vaccinated by December 8, 2021. An analysis of the GSA Deviation’s key points, highlighting the confusion related to subcontract flow-downs, follows below.
Continue Reading This Will Only Hurt a Bit: The GSA Mandates COVID-19 Vaccines in Nearly All Existing Contract Types
Broad Categories of Employees of Federal Contractors Now Required to Be Fully Vaccinated by December 8–Law360
This article appeared in Law360.
The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued on Sept. 24 its guidance for federal contractors and subcontractors[[1] as required by President Joe Biden’s Sept. 9 executive order on ensuring adequate COVID-19 safety protocols for federal contractors.[2] The guidance was approved by the Office of Management and Budget on the same day.[3]
The guidance contains three key provisions:
- Mandatory vaccination of covered contractor employees who are not legally entitled to accommodation;
- Masking and physical distancing while in covered contractor workplaces in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines; and
- The designation by each covered contractor of a point person or persons to coordinate COVID-19 workplace safety efforts at covered contractor workplaces.[4]
What’s Next for Federal Contractors and Mandatory COVID-19 Safety Protocols
A day following his national address on September 8, 2021, President Biden issued two Executive Orders directed respectively to federal employees and federal contractors with the stated purpose of decreasing or halting the spread of COVID-19, including its Delta variant: Executive Order on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees (Federal Employee EO) and Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (Federal Contractor EO, or EO). The Federal Contractor EO was followed, on September 10, 2021, by a clarifying statement by the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) (OMB Statement). Here are some key takeaways from the two Executive Orders as they pertain to the federal contracting community, including all companies and other entities in the federal supply chain.
Continue Reading What’s Next for Federal Contractors and Mandatory COVID-19 Safety Protocols
NIST on Track to Clarify Bayh-Dole to Ensure High Prices Cannot Be Used as Grounds for Exercising March-in Rights – Or Is It?
On January 4, 2021, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published proposed rules for comment changing regulations promulgated under the Bayh-Dole Act (35 U.S.C. §§ 200-204), which allow businesses and nonprofit institutions, in most circumstances, to take title to inventions made under federally funded projects (subject inventions) and to freely commercialize items, and methods used to produce items, embodying subject inventions.
Continue Reading NIST on Track to Clarify Bayh-Dole to Ensure High Prices Cannot Be Used as Grounds for Exercising March-in Rights – Or Is It?
Here to Remind You of the Key Provisions of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act – You Oughta Know!
Each year, Congress presents us in Title VIII of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) a potpourri of procurement reforms, changes, and additions. Some are effective immediately, while some are bound for rulemaking and regulation and surface years from enactment. Some require analyses, reports, and studies which have no immediate impact but provide a roadmap that can and should be used by government contractors in their business planning. Finally, some provisions of the NDAAs just wither away and have no impact whatsoever. Nineteen days before the Trump Administration ended, the US Senate followed the US House of Representatives in overriding the President’s veto of the William (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (H.R. 6395) (FY2021 NDAA), making it law on January 1, 2021. Happy New Year! As for its Title VIII, the FY2021 NDAA is no different from its predecessors in its procurement potpourri. Here’s a tour of key provisions you oughta know.
Continue Reading Here to Remind You of the Key Provisions of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act – You Oughta Know!
UPDATE: New Executive Order and Accompanying OFCCP FAQs Demand Federal Contractors and Grantees Scrutinize All Diversity Workforce Training
On September 22, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping (the Order). The Order is directed squarely at federal contractors and subcontractors, and states that its purpose is to “promote economy and efficiency in Federal contracting, . . . unity in the Federal workforce, and . . . combat[] offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating.” The Order is effective immediately but is applicable to contracts issued after November 22, 2020 (60 days after the Order).
Continue Reading UPDATE: New Executive Order and Accompanying OFCCP FAQs Demand Federal Contractors and Grantees Scrutinize All Diversity Workforce Training
New Executive Order Demands Federal Contractors and Grantees Scrutinize All Diversity Workforce Training
On September 22, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping. The Order is directed squarely at federal contractors and subcontractors and states that its purpose is to “promote economy and efficiency in Federal contracting, . . . unity in the Federal workforce, and . . . combat[] offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating.” The Order is effective immediately but is applicable to contracts issued after November 22, 2020 (60 days after the order).
Continue Reading New Executive Order Demands Federal Contractors and Grantees Scrutinize All Diversity Workforce Training