GAO Reminds Agencies that “Less Favorable” Doesn’t Mean “Ignored:” A Past Performance Lesson from a Recent VA Protest
If your company is one of the many that relies on CPARS reports and past performance ratings to win federal work, a recent GAO decision is worth five minutes of your time. It doesn’t involve a dramatic scandal or an agency acting in bad faith. It’s something certainly more common and arguably more useful: an agency that set up a reasonable-sounding evaluation shortcut that didn’t actually match what […]
Inflation Updates to FAR Thresholds: What Changed on October 1, 2025
Under 41 U.S.C. § 1908, every five years, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Council must adjust statutory acquisition-related thresholds for economic inflation. These statutory acquisition-related threshold shifts will materially affect government contract sourcing strategies, documentation requirements, and small business planning. These adjustments do not apply to the Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Labor Standards, or trade […]
GSA’s $1 or Less AI Deals
Last month, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) made headlines by offering federal agencies one year access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise and Anthropic’s Claude for $1 per agency, and days later, a year’s access to Google’s Gemini for $0.47. GSA set these bargains as fast on-ramps under its OneGov Strategy buying initiative. The agency also launched […]
SAM Pre-Award Registration “Fix” Finally Finalized
At long last, the FAR Council has brought to a close with favorable results for both government contracting activities and contractors the self-inflicted problem of the previous Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirement that contractors be “continuously” registered in the government’s System for Award Management (SAM) database to be eligible for the award of a federal […]
Recent Developments in Federal Appropriations Law and Source Selection
There have been a few important updates in federal appropriations law and source selection processes this summer. Here is what federal contractors should know: Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) Reinforces Congress’ Funding Authority Under the Impoundment Control Act (“ICA”), the President (and any other officer or employee of the Executive Branch) can pause or cancel spending […]
Goodbye to Sixty Years of Government Contractor Equal Employment Requirements
On September 24, 1965, President Lydon Johnson signed Executive Order 11246, prohibiting employment discrimination by federal contractors and subcontractors based on race, color, sex or national origin, and mandating that contractors undertake affirmative action programs.[i] That Executive Order was modified by President Obama in 2014 to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list […]
FAR Overhaul – Emphasizing Speed Over Uniformity
On April 15, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14275, “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement.”[i] The Order directs the FAR Council to reduce the size of the FAR by eliminating non-statutory requirements but also maintain the basic necessities for Federal contracting essential to efficient, secure, and cost-effective procurement, all within 180 days. The President’s […]
Current OMB Requirements for Federal AI Use and Procurement
The rules surrounding government agency use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) have changed. On April 3rd, 2025, in accordance with President Trump’s January 23rd Executive Order regarding AI, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued M-25-21 and M-25-22, reshaping how federal agencies must use, inventory, and buy AI technologies. These sweeping memoranda rescind and substitute the […]
A Reduction in Federal Regulations?
On May 9th, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations.” Some numbers cited in executive order: The Code of Federal Regulations contains over 48,000 sections, stretching over 175,000 pages, and by some estimates contained hundreds of thousands or strict-liability criminal provisions. In a country where received wisdom tells us that […]