On March 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an $8.1 million settlement in a civil case under the False Claims Act (FCA) related to alleged customs evasion by a California importer of wood flooring. The private whistleblower
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Trump Administration Revises SBA’s Small Business Goals
On January 24, the SBA announced updated small business contracting goals for fiscal year 2025, significantly decreasing some goals and standardizing targets across federal agencies. These changes bring the small business targets more closely in line with historic targets.…
Small Business Size Protest Minute: The Ostensible Subcontractor Exception that (Almost) Swallowed the Rule
As many of our readers know, the ostensible subcontractor rule is one way in which the Small Business Administration (SBA) can find affiliation between a small business and one of its subcontractors, potentially resulting in the small business’s disqualification from…
SBA’s OHA Finds Initial Offer To Be Of Consequence, Not Final Proposal Revision, for the “180-Day Rule”
By Todd Overman
On February 19, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied an appeal from an unsuccessful bidder who argued the awardee was large due to an acquisition that occurred while the award was pending. OHA found that Small Business Administration…
Fourth Circuit Terminates Maryland District Court’s DEI Injunction
On March 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal, terminating a Maryland district court’s injunction of certain elements of President Trump’s January 20 and 21 diversity, equity and…
Bid Protest Minute: Bidder’s Responsibility to Submit Well-Drafted Proposal
On February 26, GAO denied the protest of Mission Analytics, Inc., challenging the award of a small business set-aside contract to ThunderCat Technology, LLC, explaining that “it is a firm’s responsibility to submit a well-written quotation.” The protest underscores the…
Department of Defense Issues Affirmative Action Class Deviation
Following U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) lead, which we wrote about here, on March 4, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Class Deviation—Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity in Federal Contracts—directing DoD Contracting Officers (COs) to “remove, replace, and…
Ethics Rules Applicable to Hiring Former Federal Government Employees
As the Trump administration continues to eliminate federal positions and reduce contract and grant outlays, many private companies will likely be eyeing current and former government employees for employment over the coming months. However, companies looking to hire former government…
Executive Order on Federal Contracting Transparency: Potential Challenges and Implications
A new executive order is set to reshape federal contracting by implementing more stringent transparency measures, but it may also create significant challenges for both government agencies and contractors.…
Judge Denies Government’s Motion to Stay Injunction of Anti-DEI Executive Orders
On March 3 Judge Abelson of the U.S. District Court for the District or Maryland denied the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal of the preliminary injunction halting the termination of equity-related federal grants and contracts and stopping the…