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!

The Department of Defense (DoD) has finalized regulations prohibiting the use of telecommunications equipment or services from Chinese entities or from entities that are owned or controlled by either the People’s Republic of China or the Russian Federation. The Final Rule, which went into effect on Friday, January 15, 2021, prohibits the DoD from buying or using banned telecommunications equipment and services that are a “substantial or essential component of any system” or that constitute a “critical technology.”

Continue Reading Changes to DoD Regulations Banning Chinese Telecommunications Equipment and Services Offer Potential Opportunities for Contractors

On the eve of the inauguration of President Biden, a lingering Trump-era policy finally made its way into the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). On January 19, 2021, the FAR Council issued a final rule implementing changes first revealed in Executive Order 13881 (the E.O.), Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials (84 FR 34257, July 18, 2019). As we discussed in an earlier post on this topic, the E.O. mandated significant modifications to FAR clauses implementing the Buy American statute by (1) substantially increasing domestic content requirements and (2) increasing the price preferences for domestic products. On September 14, 2020, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule designed to implement the requirements of the E.O. (85 FR 56558, Sept. 14, 2020). Our post on that development noted that, while the proposed rule incorporated the overarching objectives of the E.O., it also significantly expanded on the E.O. by reintroducing the domestic content test for commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items made wholly or predominantly of iron or steel, or a combination of both (with the exception of fasteners).

Continue Reading FAR Council Issues Final Rule to Implement Trump Executive Order on Significant Buy American Changes

On January 14, 2021, the Department of Justice released its updated statistics for False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries in FY 2020. The Civil Division reported that it recovered $2.2 billion in settlements and judgments in the previous fiscal year—down nearly $900 million from FY 2019, and off nearly two-thirds from the government’s high-watermark collections of $6.1 billion in FY 2014. Although $2.2 billion in net FCA recoveries represents DOJ’s lowest FCA haul in a decade, it is still a remarkable figure considering court closures and pandemic-slowed dockets across the country over the past eleven months.

Continue Reading 2020 False Claims Act Recoveries Were Down by One-Third in 2020. . . and That’s Bad News for Federal Contractors

As has been widely reported, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning of mass protests and potential violence accompanying the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. However, unlike the tragic events of January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, this warning is being directed to the capitols of all fifty states in addition to numerous assets located throughout the National Capitol Region. In light of these developments, federal contractors who find their operations close to these seats of power may have concerns as to whether to stay open or close their offices and keep employees away. Accordingly, we provide a timely reminder of key considerations that contractors should take into account when balancing the practical reality of safety concerns against the legal obligations of contractual compliance.

Continue Reading Office Closures and Limited Access: Federal Contractor Considerations When Weathering Potential Political Unrest

When Abraham Lincoln signed the False Claims Act (FCA) into law in 1863, it was a legislative reaction to a series of sensational congressional investigations into war profiteers’ sale of phony provisions and useless equipment to the U.S. government during the Civil War. Contractors who agreed to provide 100-pound bags of flour filled many of the bags with sand. Munitions suppliers demanded full payment (at exorbitant, wartime prices) for rusted, nonfunctioning weapons gleaned from scrap heaps. It was not a leap to find claims that sand was flour, or that a rusted flintlock was an Army rifle, were objectively false; these were not just breaches of contract, but out-and-out frauds. Congress stepped in to stop this “plundering of the public treasury,” and the FCA imposed penalties on those who sought to defraud the U.S. government and its taxpayers.

Continue Reading Honest Abe Would Demand “Objective Falsity” for FCA Liability. Will the Supreme Court?

Undoubtedly a great film for its day, the 1982 classic Poltergeist might not have aged as well as the filmmakers had hoped. But the vivid imagery, jump scares and creepy marketing the PG-rated “family” movie employed remain burned into the minds of many. For those unfamiliar with the Spielberg classic, a “poltergeist” is largely understood as a ghost or other supernatural being responsible for physical disturbances such as loud noises and thrown-around objects. As seasoned Government contractors know all too well, the same could be said of cybersecurity regulations. Don’t believe us? Just ask your information technology and information security professionals about the coffee mug shards scattered in the corner or the stapler embedded into the computer monitor. Constantly evolving cybersecurity regulations, arriving seemingly out of nowhere, are a fact of contractor life and are as sure to strike as that creepy clown doll in the rocking chair. As if on cue, more have arrived. Was that a crash we heard?

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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

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

Halloween is coming up and, right on cue, the FAR Council has released a proposed rule that has potentially frightening implications for contractors. Last year, on July 15, 2019, the president signed Executive Order 13881 (the E.O.), Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials (84 FR 34257, July 18, 2019). As we noted in our previous post on this topic, the E.O. mandated significant changes to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses implementing the Buy American statute by substantially increasing both domestic content requirements and price preferences for domestic products. As we also pointed out, the E.O. contained several ambiguities as to how the desired changes would be implemented. At long last, we have (proposed) answers. On September 14, 2020, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule designed to implement the requirements of the E.O. (85 FR 56558, Sept. 14, 2020). While this proposed rule incorporates the overarching objectives of the E.O., it also adds a fairly unsettling spin in that it expands on the E.O.’s mandate by reintroducing the domestic content test for commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items as it pertains to iron and steel products.

Continue Reading The FAR Council Issues Proposed Rule to Implement Executive Order on Significant Buy American Changes