On March 9, 2021, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Hon. Elaine D. Kaplan, Chief Judge, issued an Amended General Order outlining the Procedures for Filing, Service, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents (HSDs). The Amended Order, which is effective immediately, applies to any document that contains information that involves matters of national security, foreign...
Category: Government Contracts
GAO Decides on Runway Extension Act
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...
Proposed Changes to SBA’s HUBZone Program
By Taimur Rabbani and Andrew Campbell SBA HUBZone Program Since 1997, the Small Business Administration’s Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Program has spurred economic development in non-metropolitan, underdeveloped and impoverished areas by providing federal contracting assistance to small businesses located in these areas. The HUBZone program, unlike other federal contracting assistance programs like SBA’s 8(a)...
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...
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 Rule of Two
By Grace Mahan Government contracts law and procedure includes a number of rules intended to facilitate or require the awarding of contracts to small businesses through set-asides. One such rule is the “Rule of Two,” which mandates that a contract officer (CO) set aside any acquisition over $150,000 for small business participation when there is...
Organizational Conflicts of Interest: The U.S. Court of Federal Claim’s Take
By Grace Mahan Among the reasons why a governmental agency might disqualify an offeror from consideration for a procurement is the existence of an organizational conflict of interest (OCI). Indeed, according to FAR § 9.504(a)(2), a contracting officer must act to avoid or mitigate a potential OCI. If an OCI cannot be neutralized, an agency...
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...
Bargains or Red Flags: Satisfying An Agency’s Cost-Realism Analysis
By Grace Mahan Like any other commercial customer, government agencies seek out bargains in their contracts for goods and services. Accordingly, it behooves government contractors to price their bids competitively. However, although tendering the lowest bid seems like a surefire way to win a contract award, the strategy can lead to the correction or dismissal...
Government Contracts in the Domain of Cyber
By Grace Mahan In the past few years, changes in cybersecurity requirements have proved to be among the most important developments in the world of government contracts. In 2017 alone, the White House issued a cybersecurity executive order, and the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) issued a Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) that imposed...