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Government contracts and bid protest attorney and Maynard Nexsen shareholder Joshua Duvall recently published a Law360 Expert Analysis article entitled, “'Key Personnel' Defense Is Trending In GAO Bid Protests." The article discusses a trio of recent U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") bid protest decisions which show a growing trend in bid protest practice: the key personnel unavailability defense.
From the article, "[b]ecause this argument [that the awardee's key personnel became unavailable after proposal submission but prior to award] can knock out the ...
On January 27, 2025, the White House Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") issued a memorandum, Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs, that will have a sweeping impact on federal grant and assistance programs and recipients.
The memorandum provides that federal financial assistance programs should be "dedicated to advancing Administration priorities" and thus directs federal agencies to "termporarily pause all activities" regarding federal assistance obligations and dispursements that relate to any of the Administration's ...
On January 3, 2025, the Defense Department, GSA, and NASA (together, the "FAR Council") published its final rule amending the suspension and debarment procedures under the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR"). The rule, which is also based on recommendations from the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee, adds language to improve consistency between the procurement and non-procurement procedures on suspension and debarment.
The final rule takes effect on January 17, 2025.
By way of background, there are two different regulatory systems for suspension and ...
In August, the Small Business Administration ("SBA") issued a proposed rule that included significant and sweeping changes to its regulations, including to its rules on joint ventures, mentor-protégé, HUBZones, and others. Notably, with regard to mergers and acquisitions ("M&A"), SBA proposed to amend its negative control affiliation and recertification rules (discussed here and here). As noted in those articles, SBA's revised M&A provisions (as written) would likely stifle investment and hinder growth opportunities for small business.
On December 17, 2024, SBA ...
The Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and NASA issued a proposed rule to adjust several acquisition-related thresholds for inflation. Key increases include the micro-purchase threshold and simplified acquisition threshold, benefiting small businesses and industry overall. Comments on the proposed rule are due by January 28, 2025.
On November 18, the Government Accountability Office ("GAO") released its much-anticipated Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2024, which was submitted to Congress on November 14. GAO's annual report is required under the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 ("CICA") and provides the government contracting community with good insight into GAO's bid protest function, including key statistics and GAO's most prevalent grounds on which it sustained bid protests during FY24. [1]
Government contractors and other industry professionals that become familiar ...
On November 12, the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (together, the "FAR Council") issued an interim rule, effective November 12, 2024, to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR") clause regarding System for Award Management ("SAM") registration. The interim rule is welcome news for contractors of all sizes, as the prior version has resulted in contractors being ineligible on what some have called a technicality.
As many contractors are aware, the SAM registration requirements under FAR ...
On Friday (10/25/24), the Small Business Administration issued a proposed rule that would expand the application of the "rule of two" (for small business) to orders under multiple award contracts. The proposed rule is welcome news for small businesses, particularly as the rule of two has been subject to competing interpretations in protest tribunals. Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before December 24, 2024.
Generally, the small business "rule of two" requires agencies to set aside contracts for small business where the agency expects at least two small ...
With just a week to go in FY24, federal agencies are rushing to spend those "use it or lose it" dollars. And while there are a number of reasons that support filing a bid protest when you're an unsuccessful offeror – this time of year or at any other time – what about when you win the contract? Well, if your company is awarded a contract and an unsuccessful offeror challenges your win, you should consider intervening in the bid protest.
Virtually every federal contractor knows how difficult it is to win a government contract. Indeed, many contractors often start pursuing larger contracts ...