While both government contractors and their federal customers had hoped that a final appropriations measure would be passed by Congress in the 2022 calendar year, that prospect now seems increasingly unlikely. If polls predicting Republican control of one or both houses of Congress are correct, it is likely that substantial pressure will be brought in the post-election lame-duck session to postpone action on FY’23 spending bills until the new Congress convenes Read more
GSA Acquisition management personnel may conduct or facilitate “internal reviews to understand and highlight potential roadblocks and weaknesses of a certain contract action, as well as successes,” according to new policy guidance issued last week from GSA’s Senior Procurement Executive. The updated guidance was issued in order to clear up confusion from early Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) guidance that limited the role acquisition managers could Read more
Government contractors should be aware that federal agencies are more frequently pursuing suspension or debarment as a first step in compliance efforts, and not just a potential final action after the conclusion of any legal proceedings or internal investigation. Suspension and debarment actions are up, overall, as well. Violations of the Services Contract Act, mentor-protégé program misrepresentations, and a failure to update reps and certs in SAM.gov are just three focus areas. It’s not just large businesses that are subject to these actions. Small Read more
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) took the only responsible action it could late last week when it issued a directive to all acquisition officials advising them to not enforce any contract clauses related to the Executive Order requiring contractors to be vaccinated for COVID 19. Despite movement on one legal effort that narrowed the scope of a nationwide injunction, multiple other court cases are still pending at various appellate courts across the Read more
GSA’s Alliant 3 team is batting a solid .500 with the release of the draft RFP this week. They moved quickly on a project requiring a fast start. Unfortunately, the team has apparently made a decision to deny requests from individual companies to discuss ideas and concerns. As such, what should have been a positive development enabling the agency to move quickly on an important project now runs the risk of incurring delays later on. Reduced communication on similar IDIQ projects has usually resulted in less well-crafted responses and in increased protest activity. As it is now, prospective contractors will have until noon eastern time on January 6th to comment on the draft Alliant 3 RFP issued by GSA last week. The long review time suggests that there are several potential changes from the current Alliant 2 contracts that industry may want to review carefully. They may undoubtedly be questions on some areas but reducing communication opportunities may make it difficult for those to be answered in a timely manner. One of the changes is that offers will be assessed based on the top 60 Highest Technically Rated Qualifying Offers. Cost and pricing data will not be considered at the contract level. GSA had signaled this change in earlier communications indicating that pricing on large IDIQ’s will become a negotiation matter between contractors and ordering agencies. Alliant 3 is also an unrestricted vehicle, meaning that companies of any size can submit a proposal. Proposals from JV’s and contractor teams are also allowed, providing that the companies in those arrangements meet the requirements for eligibility set forth in the draft. The requirement in other recent IDIQ’s for all offerors to submit proof of past performance on the solutions to be proposed continues. Offerors can earn up to 17,500 points for previous performance, regardless of the total number of projects submitted for review. Contractors should take all of the time allotted to carefully review the content of the draft. GSA should reconsider its decision to restrict communications.