Inside Government Contracts

Procurement Law and Policy Insights

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Two cornerstone authorities for federal contracting quietly expired on September 30, 2025, creating ripple effects that contractors—small and large—cannot afford to overlook.  The Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (“SBIR/STTR”) programs, commonly known as “America’s Seed Fund” for their role in fueling early-stage innovation, and the Defense Production Act (“DPA”), the backbone of the

As part of the Trump Administration’s Revolutionary FAR Overhaul[1] (“RFO”), the FAR Council has released a model deviation for FAR Part 33 – Protests, Disputes, and Appeals, which includes changes that seem intended to make agency-level protests more appealing to disappointed offerors.  It remains to be seen whether these proposed changes will have the

On September 18, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a civil False Claims Act (“FCA”) settlement against a New Jersey shipbuilder to resolve allegations that it improperly employed unauthorized workers to work on Navy ships.  The settlement, which exceeded $4 million, is the second this year involving government contractors alleged to have employed

On September 15, 2025, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (“ODNI”) issued the first public exclusion and removal order (the “Order”) under the framework established by the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018 (“FASCSA”).  The Order applies to all products and services produced or provided by Acronis AG as well as

This blog previously covered the Federal Circuit’s decision in Percipient.ai, Inc. v. United States, which addressed bid protest jurisdiction and standing at the Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”), and seemed to potentially open the door to a new category of protests.  Now, in an en banc ruling, the Federal Circuit vacated that decision and reached

This blog post discusses the Department of Defense’s (“DoD”) new cybersecurity rule that imposes certain cybersecurity requirements on relevant DoD contractors and subcontractors. The post will be of interest to all DoD contractors, subcontractors, and possibly affiliates of contractors that may be impacted by the new rule’s cybersecurity requirements.

On September 10, 2025, DoD published

Though the 2nd Trump Administration has dramatically turned away from the energy and industrial policies of the Biden Administration, private-sector proponents of advanced energy projects may still find opportunities to partner with the federal government on certain Research and Development (R&D) or commercialization projects in the energy sector. 

Since January 2025, nearly all corners of

On Friday, August 22, 2025, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released a proposed rule to increase the size standard for what it considers to be a small business across 263 industries. The proposed rule principally covers receipts-based size standards.  These proposed increases stem from SBA’s periodic review of size standards to ensure the standards reflect

This is the sixth blog in a series of Covington blogs on cybersecurity policies, executive orders (“EOs”), and other actions of the Trump Administration.  The fifth blog is available here and our initial blog is available here.  This blog describes key cybersecurity developments that took place in July 2025. 

Trump Administration Issues AI Action