CIO-SP4 Amendment 7: Major Changes for Small Business and Large Business Prime / Subcontractor Teams
The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) just issued major changes to the Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 4 (CIO-SP4) Request for Proposals (RFP) under Amendment 7 to the RFP. These changes will impact both small and large business teams who intend to rely on subcontractors (i.e. FAR 9.601(2) Contractor Team Arrangement (CTA) members). For small business teams, Amendment 7 clarifies that only first-tier subcontractors can be used for purposes of meeting the requirements for . . . Read More
DOD Cancels $10 Billion JEDI Contract, Takes New Direction on Cloud Procurement
On July 6, 2021, the Department of Defense (DOD) canceled its $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud procurement, close to two years after issuing the award to Microsoft and merely two months after the U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued a sealed decision denying the Department of Justice’s and Microsoft’s motions to dismiss Amazon Web Services’ (Amazon) bid protest challenging the award. This end to the JEDI saga will likely shape the decisions of other agencies as they . . . Read More
Has Your Claim Been Flagged for Fraud? How It Impacts Your Ability to Appeal Before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals
A recent decision [1] from the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) in the appeal of Widescope Consulting and Contracting Services sheds some light on the issue of whether the CBCA lacks jurisdiction over an appeal of a claim that a contracting officer has flagged for suspected fraud. Based on the Widescope decision, if a contracting officer merely suspects fraud and claims they have been divested of the authority to issue a decision on a claim, contractors will have the right . . . Read More
New CIO-SP4 Modification – An Undue Restriction on Competition and a Violation of SBA Regulations?
On June 22, 2021, the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) issued its third modification to the Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 4 (CIO-SP4) Request for Proposals (RFP). Among other things, NITAAC made significant changes to how subcontractors and mentors in Small Business Administration (SBA) approved mentor-protégé programs are treated for purposes of the evaluation. The RFP appears to disallow the use of any subcontractor experience, past performance, or other qualifications, including from small businesses, . . . Read More
DOD, GSA, and NASA Issue Proposed Rule to Update the HUBZone Program in the FAR
The Small Business Administration (SBA) updated its Historically Underutilized Business (HUBZone) program in a final rule issued on November 26, 2019, at 84 FR 65,222. The Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have issued a proposed rule seeking to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to correspond with the updates made by the SBA. The proposed changes to the FAR include: updating the small business concern definition, adding in status protest procedures for . . . Read More
Biden Announces 50 Percent Increase in Small Disadvantaged Business Contracting Goals: Key Details for Government Contractors
On June 1, 2021, President Biden marked the 100-year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre by announcing the Biden-Harris Administration’s plan to increase small disadvantaged business (SDB) contracting goals by fifty percent. The White House also released new information regarding President Biden’s American Jobs Plan. Below are key details on the new SDB contracting goals for government contractors. Biden’s announcement launched an all-of-government effort to expand contracting opportunities for underserved small businesses across the country. The new goal is to . . . Read More
DOD Issues Proposed Rule on Enhanced Post-Award Debriefing Rights: 5 Things You Should Know
As we previously reported , Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (2018 NDAA) required the Department of Defense (DOD) to issue new regulations to establish more detailed and comprehensive post-award debriefing rights. In March 2018, DOD issued a class deviation to implement some, but not all, of the rights required by the 2018 NDAA. On May 20, 2021, DOD published a proposed rule that would amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to make permanent various changes in the . . . Read More
SBA Proposes to Increase Small Business Eligibility for Loan Programs Through Size Standard Revisions
On May 25, 2021, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a proposed rule that would increase size standards for 49 industries in the Wholesale Trade (Sector 42) and Retail Trade (Sectors 44-45) sectors. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes under these sectors are not used to classify government acquisitions for supplies. Instead, procurements for supplies are classified under a manufacturing or supply NAICS code. Therefore, SBA estimates that this rule would not have any impact on federal contract dollars awarded . . . Read More
8 Key Takeaways from Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity for Government Contractors
On May 12, 2021, the Biden administration released a far-reaching executive order intended to improve the U.S. government’s cybersecurity posture, both internally and in any private information technology (IT) systems that “touch” federal IT systems. The executive order is available here , and a related fact sheet is available here . This executive order will work in tandem with existing initiatives, such as the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, and National Institute of Standards and . . . Read More
COFC Denies DOJ/Microsoft Motion to Dismiss Amazon JEDI Protest
On April 28, 2021, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued a sealed decision denying the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) and Microsoft’s motions to dismiss Amazon Web Services’ (Amazon) bid protest of the Pentagon’s $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract. Amazon claims repeated prejudicial errors against Amazon Web Services due to influence from then-President Donald Trump and other high-level government officials aiming to harm Amazon. DOJ and Microsoft failed to convince the Court to dismiss the . . . Read More