The US Department of Justice’s Civil Cyber-Fraud (CCF) Initiative employs the powerful False Claims Act (FCA), with two recent FCA settlements under the CCF Initiative indicating scrutiny on cybersecurity compliance to combat emerging cyber threats. Whether the CCF Initiative continues in current form, it nonetheless underscores the importance for contractors, subcontractors, grantees, and other forms … Continue Reading
US government contractors should be aware that following President Trump’s January 21 Executive Order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” on January 24, acting U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Vincent Micone issued an agency Order instructing DOL employees to cease and desist “all investigative and enforcement activity” under Executive Order 11246 (Equal Employment … Continue Reading
On October 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released its final rule to establish the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program (Final CMMC Program Rule). The CMMC Program allows the DoD to verify that defense prime contractors and subcontractors (defense contractors) have implemented security safeguards for Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified … Continue Reading
On August 15, 2024, the US Department of Defense (DoD) published a proposed rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) in order to implement the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. DoD is executing a phased rollout of CMMC, and the August 2024 proposed rule is the second proposed rule DoD has … Continue Reading
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration released the Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Proposed Rule (also known as the Gas Emissions and Climate-Related Financial Risk Proposed Rule), which would require contractors of the federal government to disclose their climate-related risks. … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Justice announced late last year that it would utilize the False Claims Act, the U.S. government’s primary civil tool to redress false claims for federal funds and property, to bring actions against U.S. government contractors and subcontractors who do not meet the cybersecurity requirements of a particular contract or grant. DOJ … Continue Reading
** UPDATE: On February 5, 2020, the FAR Council “corrected” the effective date of the Final Rule from January 21, 2021, to January 19, 2021. This alert has been updated accordingly. ** Recent modifications to regulations and federal government acquisition policies portend big change for contractors across the US, and their suppliers around the world. … Continue Reading
Many small businesses in the US have suffered severe economic hardships due to the global pandemic, but there is now some relief available to a subset of small businesses. The US Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim rule effective January 13, 2021, amending the regulations governing the 8(a) Business Development (BD) program to implement … Continue Reading
What are the implications? What practical steps should US government contractors take? Our multidisciplinary team provides an overview of President Trump’s Executive Order 13950, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping, its labor law implications, potential for litigation, and practical guidance for federal contractors. Continue reading here.… Continue Reading
The Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has published an interim final rule implementing section 889(a)(1)(B) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Pub. L. 115-232, the 2019 NDAA).¹ ² This interim final rule is effective August 13, 2020 and interested … Continue Reading
On March 20, 2020, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord issued a memorandum to the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), clarifying what is considered the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce in light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (the “Memo”). The Memo can be found here.… Continue Reading
On March 18, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order on prioritizing and allocating health and medical resources to respond to the spread of COVID-19 in the US, citing the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA), as amended (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.).… Continue Reading
Protection of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) from the growing panoply of cybersecurity threats has been a consistent point of emphasis for senior Department of Defense (DOD) officials during the Trump Administration. The DOD took a significant step toward addressing that concern on January 31, 2020 with the release of Version 1.0 of the Cybersecurity … Continue Reading
On December 17, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018 (HR 6330) (the Act), which modifies the period to measure small business size status from three fiscal years of average annual receipts to five fiscal years.… Continue Reading
With the budget talks hitting a “wall” and another US government shutdown looming, contractors doing business with the US government need to be ready with concrete plans to lessen the impact to your business, employees and subcontractors.… Continue Reading
The US federal government contracts bid protest process and timing is different based on the type of procurement and contract vehicle involved. You could be left without much of a remedy if you miss a critical deadline.… Continue Reading
