Regulatory & Statutory Developments

The Administrative False Claims Act of 2023 (AFCA), Pub. L. 118-159, § 5203, enacted December 23, 2024, substantially amended the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act (PFCRA). On March 19, 2026, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a direct final rule conforming its regulations to those statutory changes. 91 Fed. Reg. 13217 (Mar. 19, 2026). Absent significant adverse comment, the rule becomes effective May 4, 2026. Together, the AFCA amendments and the conforming rule materially expand SBA’s enforcement reach, raise the jurisdictional threshold for administrative proceedings, extend the statute of limitations, and introduce reverse false claims liability. Contractors doing business with SBA—or whose programs touch SBA loans, grants, or set-aside contracts—should act now.

Continue Reading SBA Expands Administrative False Claims Act Enforcement: What Federal Contractors Need to Know

In every crisis, half the room runs in circles while the other half picks up a clipboard and starts taking stock. The Anthropic-Pentagon dispute is that crisis, and defense contractors are deciding which half they want to be in.

The short version: The government designated a FedRAMP-authorized, facility-cleared American AI company a national security supply chain threat, via social media, after the company refused to remove safety restrictions on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. Anthropic sued days later, with the Pentagon’s own officials on the record stating the designation was “ideologically driven” with “no evidence of supply chain risk.”

Continue Reading Don’t Panic! How Federal Contractors Should Navigate the Anthropic Designation

In a previous posting, we flagged how the BIOSECURE Act (enacted as Section 851 of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act) reflects a growing focus on biotechnology supply chains within federal procurement. The statute is designed around a simple premise: Biotechnology risks rarely appear at the level of the final product. Instead, the risks tend to emerge through tools, platforms, and service providers embedded in the performance of federally funded work.

Nowhere is that observation more apparent than in industries adjacent to biotechnology that rely heavily on biological data, specialized testing infrastructure, or outsourced research capabilities. Examples include pharmaceutical and biologics developers, medical device and diagnostics manufacturers, contract research organizations (CROs) and specialized laboratory providers, healthcare and academic research institutions participating in federally funded programs, and technology companies supporting biological data analytics or laboratory automation. For these sectors, biotechnology may not define the business model, but it plays a quiet yet significant operational role in how products are discovered, validated, and manufactured. The BIOSECURE Act brings those operational dependencies into sharper focus.

Continue Reading The BIOSECURE Act and the Expanding Life Sciences Supply Chain: Practical Considerations for Research-Driven Industries

“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.”

When Obi-Wan Kenobi says this in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, he senses that something profound just changed in the galaxy. A powerful presence has vanished. The balance of power shifting in ways that will ripple far beyond the immediate moment. As Yoda later describes the Force: “Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, binds us.” In this way, artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to play a role for the US Defense Industrial Base (DIB) not unlike the Force itself—quietly enhancing the capabilities of engineers, analysts, and compliance professionals across thousands of organizations supporting national defense programs.

So what could happen if a major AI player suddenly disappears from the board?

Continue Reading Orbiting A.I.-deraan? A Disturbance in the Force for the Defense Industrial Base

Remember in Coming to America when Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem shows up in Queens full of charm, optimism, and big dreams and somehow it all works out? Fast-forward 38 years (yes, it’s been that long) and European companies looking to sell into the US Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security supply chains will need much more than charm. Instead, they’ll need real strategy, a focused structure, and readiness for regulatory scrutiny that doesn’t end with an award notification. In the current climate, with a heightened domestic preference policy, new executive directives such as the “Prioritizing the Warfighter in Defense Contracting” executive order, and renewed focus on supply chain security and performance, it is essential for foreign companies and their counsel to clearly understand the terrain before landfall.

Continue Reading Coming to America (the Government Contracting Edition): Ownership, Compliance, and Shifting Policy

Following a tumultuous start to fiscal year 2026, including a government shutdown that lasted 43 days, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026 (NDAA 2026), Pub. L. 119-60, was passed by Congress and signed into law on December 18, 2025. NDAA 2026 is a critical legislative act, setting acquisition reforms and policies and authorizing appropriations and funding levels for the Department of Defense (DoD). With $900.6 billion in funding for the DoD, NDAA 2026 contains a plethora of acquisition reform provisions and critical updates impacting defense contractors. Title XVIII of NDAA 2026 significantly increased certain acquisition thresholds, including triggers for the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data Act (formerly the Truth in Negotiations Act) and Cost Accounting Standards application, which you can read about here. Additionally, NDAA 2026 increases the thresholds for noncompetitive acquisitions and when information technology requirements qualify as a major system.

Continue Reading FY2026 NDAA: Major Increases to Critical Acquisition Thresholds

The FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) became law on December 18, 2025, enacting a tidal wave of the Trump administration’s priorities with respect to Department of Defense (DoD) procurement. One key priority reflected in the NDAA is reducing compliance burdens so that (i) established DoD contractors are incentivized to pursue awards and (ii) more companies opt in to being a DoD contractor to grow the industrial base. Importantly, Section 1804 and Section 1806 of the NDAA take action on this priority by raising the dollar thresholds for complex domains of government contracting: the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) and submission of certified cost or pricing data. While these changes are welcome developments, companies should be cognizant that a steady stream of compliance requirements remains even with these increased thresholds.

Continue Reading Swept Away: FY2026 NDAA Updates to CAS and Certified Cost or Pricing Data Thresholds

On December 18, 2025, the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (FY2026 NDAA) became law. True to each year’s NDAA being a sprawling piece of legislation, the FY2026 NDAA contains many priorities of the current Administration. Nestled among its myriad provisions, federal grant recipients should take note of Section 230, the “Prohibition on Modification of Indirect Cost Rates for Institutions of Higher Education and Nonprofit Organization.” This section provides a speed bump for rapid changes to indirect cost rates for Department of Defense grantees and reflects congressional sympathy to grantee concerns, particularly those of institutes of higher education (IHEs).

Continue Reading College Prep: What Colleges with DoD Grants Should Do Now Under the FY2026 NDAA

The US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) new Data Security Program (DSP), designed to protect sensitive information and national security-related data from misuse by foreign actors, took full effect on October 6, 2025. The program introduces new restrictions on how companies handle and share sensitive US personal data and government-related data, especially when certain foreign entities are involved. With enforcement underway, companies should understand who is covered, what activities are restricted, and what compliance measures are required. Failure to comply with the rules can result in civil or criminal penalties.

Continue Reading DOJ Launches New Data Security Program—What Your Company Needs to Know

Drumroll, please. On November 7, 2025, the Department of Defense (DoD) released three memoranda signaling changes to its approach to procurement and Foreign Military Sales/Direct Commercial Sales in the years to come: “Unifying the Department’s Arms Transfer and Security Cooperation Enterprise to Improve Efficiency and Enable Burden-Sharing”; “Reforming the Joint Requirements Process to Accelerate Fielding of Warfighting Capabilities”; and “Transforming the Defense Acquisition System into the Warfighting Acquisition System to Accelerate Fielding of Urgently Needed Capabilities to Our Warriors.” The latter memorandum appends the DoD’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy (the Strategy), which is aimed at dramatically reforming how the DoD’s acquisition system operates with an eye toward increasing the speed and flexibility of DoD procurements and the acquisition workforce. This document begins the march toward sunsetting the existing Defense Acquisition System in favor of what is envisioned to be a more rapid and effective system designed to provide the DoD with the capabilities it needs to meet its mission requirements.

Continue Reading The Drumbeat of Progress: DOD’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy