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.…

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 a procurement.  The rule is designed to ensure that small businesses perform the primary and…

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 (SBA) regulations prohibit awards to concerns where a merger or acquisition occurs, resulting in the…

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 inclusion (DEI) executive orders (EO), “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”…

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 fact that proposals lacking sufficient detail and the requested information may be deemed technically unacceptable…

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 not enforce Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) solicitation provisions and contract clauses associated with Executive Order…

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 employees must keep in mind the strict and nuanced rules that govern their hiring, and,…