In his first few days in office, President Trump issued several executive orders (“EOs”) and memoranda, many of which may have implications for federal contractors and grant recipients, including the following:
Latest from Inside Government Contracts
The Proposed FAR Rule on OCIs: Big Changes May Be Coming
Yesterday, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule that would update the U.S. Government’s approach to organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs). While the proposed rule is not finalized and may change in response to forthcoming comments from interested parties, the proposed rule contemplates major changes to the FAR’s existing framework in this area. In this
Federal Highway Administration Publishes Final Rule Rescinding Longstanding Buy America Waiver for Manufactured Products
On January 14, 2025, the Department of Transportation’s (“DOT”) Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”) published a final rule ending its longstanding waiver of Buy America requirements for manufactured products (the “Manufactured Products Waiver”) and setting out new standards for the use of domestic content on FHWA-funded infrastructure projects. As discussed in our previous post, FHWA
Congress Attempts to Revitalize the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act
Since 1986, the little brother to the civil False Claims Act, known as the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986 (“PFCRA”), has seen very little use. Section 5203 of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) seeks to breathe new life into the law by renaming it the “Administrative False Claims Act
President Biden signs the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025
This is the first blog in a series covering the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (“FY 2025 NDAA”). This first blog will cover: (1) NDAA sections affecting acquisition policy and contract administration that may be of greatest interest to government contractors; (2) initiatives that underscore Congress’s commitment to strengthening cybersecurity, both domestically and
November 2024 Developments Under President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order and National Cybersecurity Strategy
This is part of a series of Covington blogs on the implementation of Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” issued by President Biden on May 12, 2021 (the “Cyber EO”). The first blog summarized the Cyber EO’s key provisions and timelines, and the subsequent blogs described the actions taken by various government agencies to
NDAA Increases Threshold for Task Order Protests and Directs Another Study on Whether Losing Protesters Should Pay
In what has become an annual tradition, this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) — just passed by the Senate and sent to the President for signature — contains a provision addressing bid protests at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”).
Likely of greatest interest to contractors is that Section 885 contains language increasing the dollar
Department of Defense Publishes Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Disclosure of Computer and Source Code to Foreign Entities
On November 15, 2024, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Proposed Rule”) entitled “Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Disclosure of Information Regarding Foreign Obligations.” The Proposed Rule would impose new disclosure obligations on “Offeror[s]” (pre-award) and “Contractor[s]” (post-award) that are triggered in certain circumstances by review or by
November 2024 Developments Under President Biden’s AI Executive Order
This is part of an ongoing series of Covington blogs on the implementation of Executive Order No. 14110 on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” (the “AI EO”), issued by President Biden on October 30, 2023. The first blog summarized the AI EO’s key provisions and related OMB guidance, and subsequent
GAO’s Annual Bid Protest Report: Fiscal Year 24 Protest Filings and Sustain Rate Fell after Unusually High Fiscal Year 23
On November 14, 2024, GAO released its Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2024, which provides bid protest statistics and other interesting information regarding GAO’s protest system.
- The number of protest filings decreased by 11% from FY23. After a 22% increase between FY22 and FY23 to surpass 2,000 cases, the number