By: Anthony J. Marchese, Esq. and Andrew Campbell As we noted in our previous blog, the SBA responded to the 2018 Runway Extension Act by asserting that until it promulgates a rule to reflect the new five-year gross receipts size standard, the three-year standard remains the law of the land. Of course, SBA has yet...
Category: Administrative Law
Cascading Errors Render A Source Selection Decision Vulnerable Report No. B-414650.1; B-414650.14 (May 21, 2018)
By Carol O’Riordan and Alexis Ferruccio A recent GAO decision demonstrates that when contemporaneous documentation shows evaluators made errors, the Source Selection Authority (SSA) award decision is at risk. Ace Info challenged the evaluation of Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Request for Quotations (RFQ) for information technology operations support services (ITOSS) under EAGLE II. Ace...
Standing and Mootness at the COFC
By Grace Mahan In order to bring claims in front of both the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims, protesters must be interested parties with Article III standing. As a result, both of these tribunals may dismiss a protest on the grounds that it is moot. In a recent case, Coast Professional,...
Comparing the GAO and the COFC
By Grace Mahan There are a number of ways to pursue a protest of a federal contract award. Generally, such protests are pursued in one of three forums: with the procuring agency, the Government Accountability Office, or the Court of Federal Claims. In broad terms, these three bodies differ in the formality of their procedures,...
The SBA’s Guide to the Ostensible Contractor Rule
By Grace Mahan In a recent size appeal decision, Emergent, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5875, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA) reinforced the criteria it uses to evaluate the “ostensible subcontractor” rule. The rule provides that when a prime contractor is unusually reliant on a subcontractor or when a subcontractor is...
New Bill Would Change the Face of Federal Regulation
By Carol L. O’Riordan On January 5, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, pretty much along party lines, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. This bill, if enacted into law, would dramatically change the way that federal regulation of industry operates. The vote was 237 to 187, with all...
Will Obama’s ‘Midnight Regulations’ Affect Your Business?
By Carol L. O’Riordan Welcome to the world of “midnight regulations” – a regulatory phenomenon that occurs from time to time in Washington, D.C., when one administration leaves office and a new one comes in. The Hill reported on January 19, 2017, just a day before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, that many federal regulatory...
Agencies Set to Plan Regulatory Changes in 2014
Corporate Counsel magazine recently reported that 24 federal agencies and departments have released their regulatory “to-do lists” for the first half of 2014. For example, the magazine reports, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning to begin working on Dodd–Frank reporting rules for financial institutions that receive credit applications from female- or minority-owned businesses. All...
D.C. Circuit: OSHA Can Fine General Contractors for Sub’s Safety Violations
A Dec. 14, 2011, ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit greatly expanded a general contractor’s exposure for a subcontractor’s safety violations when working on a multi-employer construction site. While the multi-employer worksite liability doctrine has been applied in other jurisdictions, this case, Summit Contractors, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and...