The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently released a study of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program’s (“OFCCP” or the “Agency”) oversight functions for fiscal years 2010 to 2015. GAO’s report explains that “OFCCP has not found violations in the vast majority of its compliance evaluations,” noting that in the time period GAO studied, OFCCP
September 2016
GSA Leaves Many Questions Unanswered, As Industry Assesses The New Transactional Data Reporting Rule
We recently wrote about GSA’s new Transactional Data Reporting (“TDR”) pilot program, which requires participating Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”) contractors to report 11 items of transactional data to GSA each month. The TDR rule also eliminates the requirement to provide a Commercial Sales Practices (“CSP”) format as well as the Price Reductions Clause. As we…
GAO’s Task Order Protest Jurisdiction Expires Today
By Jay Carey
GAO’s jurisdiction over protests of civilian agency task and delivery orders valued at more than $10 million will sunset today. 41 U.S.C. § 410(f)(3). GAO will continue to have jurisdiction over Department of Defense task and delivery orders over $10 million — Congress made that jurisdiction permanent in 2011. 10 U.S.C. § 2304c(e).…
New Report Calls Out Corporate Political Disclosure “Basement Dwellers”
A report published today criticizes companies that refuse to disclose information about their political spending on their websites. The non-profit Center for Political Accountability and the Zicklin School at Wharton annually rank all companies in the S&P 500 on their political disclosure practices, based on a 70-point metric. The more information companies disclose on their…
DoD Finalizes Rule Expanding Contractor Rights in Technical Data
DoD has issued a Final Rule that gives added protections to the technical data of privately developed commercial items incorporated into major systems, including major weapon systems. This rule implements Section 813(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016 and modifies 10 U.S.C.§ 2321(f).…
D.C. Circuit Upholds Constitutionality of SBA’s 8(a) Program
Earlier this month, in Rothe Development, Inc. v. Department of Defense, the D.C. Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) 8(a) program by rejecting arguments that the Small Business Act contains an unconstitutional classification based on race. Although the decision will likely be seen as a positive development for small business government contractors…
French Pilot on Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) for Dairy and Meat in Processed Foods
By Brian Kelly
On 19 August 2016, France adopted Decree No 2016-1137 introducing mandatory country of origin labelling (COOL) for dairy and meat in processed foods. The national measures strengthen the regulatory framework that exists at the EU level, which already imposes COOL requirements on specific foodstuffs, such as unprocessed and pre-packed swine, poultry, sheep and goat meat…
East Asia Watch: U.S. to Lift Sanctions on Myanmar
At his meeting with visiting Myanmar (Burma) State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on September 14, President Obama announced that he intends to issue a new Executive Order that will generally remove longstanding U.S. sanctions on Burma. Given further progress in Myanmar’s transition to a democracy, he argued that “it is the right thing to…
This Week in Congress – September 26, 2016
After failing to reach agreement last week on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded beyond the end of the current fiscal year, Congress is now racing the clock to strike a deal to keep the government open beyond midnight on Friday, September 30. With five days to go before a government shutdown, the…
Employee Efforts to Stop Employer FCA Violation is Protected Activity Even When No Distinct Possibility of FCA Litigation, says Fourth Circuit
The Fourth Circuit recently held, in an unpublished opinion, that the anti-retaliation or “whistleblower” provisions of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) protect an individual’s efforts to stop a contractor from violating the FCA, even when there is no “distinct possibility” of litigation. This “distinct possibility” standard was adopted prior to 2009 when the whistleblower…