On October 21, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it referred 689 firms previously removed from its 8(a) Business Development Program to the General Services Administration (GSA) for a comprehensive review of their federal contract awards. According to
Considerations Involving Key Personnel Qualifications Information
When evaluating key personnel qualifications, agencies generally assess the experience of the personnel proposed by the contractor against the requirements of the solicitation. Depending on the evaluation criteria, a proposal may be subject to downgraded ratings and even elimination if
Sent Is Not Received: GAO Applies the RFO’s Late-Submission Rule to Quotation Blocked by a Spam Filter
The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) may give contracting officers more discretion after a late quotation or offer is received before award. It does not, however, change the fundamental rule that a contractor still must get its submission to the government
Client Alert: The UK Defence Footprint 2026 and the Warsaw Defence Plan: Investment, Innovation and Opportunities
On 27 October 2026, the UK Ministry of Defence (“MOD”) published UK Defence Footprint 2026 (the “Footprint”), bringing together defence spending and industrial initiatives, including previously announced investments, and setting out planned defence spending of £298 billion over the next
SBA OIG Issues Warnings on Limitations on Subcontracting
The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has a mission to “provide independent, objective, and timely oversight to improve the integrity, accountability, and performance of SBA and its programs.” As part of this mission, it investigated and
New Federal Court Decision Says Insurance Can Cover False Claims Act Investigations and Settlements
We just released Episode 49 of the False Claims Act Insights podcast where Lorinda Holloway and I talk about whether insurance can cover False Claims Act investigations and settlements.
Many executives assume fraud exclusions make the answer no, but a
Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities and Security Updates: Why Hours Matter, What Defense Tech and Dual Use Companies Should Do Now
On October 21, 2026, the PHP project patched two critical remote-code-execution vulnerabilities, together called php2shell, that affect nearly every system running PHP to serve web traffic, including sites built on WordPress, Drupal, and Magento, as well as many custom portals. Technical
SmallGovCon Week in Review: October 19-23, 2026
Happy Friday! We hope you have had a great week and are looking forward to the weekend. Fall has finally arrived here, and we are all hoping to find some time to enjoy the typical fall festivities like pumpkin patches,
GAO Upholds Navy Sole-Source Award to Preserve Defense Industrial Base Capacity
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently upheld the Department of the Navy’s decision to award a sole-source contract to preserve a second qualified manufacturer of critical submarine equipment. In RFD Beaufort, Inc., B-424661, B-424661.2 (Oct. 7, 2026), GAO denied
Federal Court Declines to Block DEI Contractor Executive Order: What Higher Education Institutions Need to Know
On Oct. 14, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland denied a request by a coalition of higher education and contractor associations to preliminarily enjoin Executive Order 14398, “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors” (the FAR DEI