The proliferation of cyber and secure supply chain requirements governing federal acquisition has caused the FAR Council to announce the creation of Chapter 40 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).  The new chapter will become the centralized home for all such regulations.  The final rule announcement from the FAR Council doesn’t, in and of itself, discuss new rules, only that all existing and future cyber and supply chain security regulations will be populated in the new chapter.  The idea is to provide contracting officers and contractors with an easy-to-find centralized location for what is required on the cyber front in specific acquisition situations.   The Federal Register notice announcing the creation of the new FAR part stated, Read more

Individual federal offices will soon receive their official funding levels for the remainder of FY’24.  A lot of business will be transacted in a short amount of time.  Here are three things that contractors should focus on now to be prepared.

1.  Shift the Focus of Customer Discussions:  While many federal agencies have projects just waiting for money once the money comes it’s time to shift the dialogue from the theoretical to the practical.  Did the project actually get its anticipated money?  When and how will the customer move forward?  Now is the time to start having federally appropriate “closing” discussions with customers.

2.  Make Sure That Your Contracts Are Current and Ready:  GWAC and other IDIQ contract holders should ensure that their contracts are fine-tuned and ready to go.  Only a small window remains to add needed solutions.  Don’t plan on trying to add new line items overnight in August.  That is the time when IDIQ use soars in government procurement, but only for those who are already prepared.  Make sure that you are.

3. Establish or Strengthen Relationships With Socio-economic Partners:  We’ve said before that partnering with companies that have special socio-economic status is key to bringing in business.  That is especially true now when a lot of money needs to be obligated in a short amount of time.  Expect small business set-asides to soar as agencies look for a way to spend what they have by September 30^th.  Partnering with small firms can ensure that you get at least part of that market.  The pace of federal business will only accelerate as the temperature warms up.  Be prepared.

Nothing exceeds like excess on today’s regulatory front.  If one rule is good, two or three must be better.  So it seems with an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) issued by CISA last week that would create yet another cyber incident reporting requirement for contractors.  The 447-page ANPR covers both private sector entities and government contractors and is designed to implement requirements of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA).  This specific rule would require more detailed technical disclosure information than other existing requirements.  As such, while CISA officials state that they want to “harmonize” reporting requirements among multiple platforms, their ability to do so may be Read more

Contractors are rightly concerned about whistleblowers calling out suspected or actual bad behavior. Most significant False Claims Act cases come from whistleblowers, often disgruntled employees or competitors.  Life isn’t all rosy for whistleblowers, though, as a recent Federal News Network report highlighted.  Whistleblower lawyer Stephen Kohn pointed stated that while whistleblowers may provide the Department of Justice with significant information on major wrongdoings, the whistleblower, themselves, could also face prosecution, even for a Read more

While much of the federal market is abuzz with cybersecurity and hi-tech solutions, the Department of Homeland Security is taking a new, low-tech approach to augment its existing Continuous Diagnostics Monitoring (CDM) mission.  “It is precisely because CDM is so important that we are bringing in the nuns”, said DHS spokesperson Eve Arden.  “The sisters have shown unique resilience and the ability to watch everything all at once,” she added.  DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directly approved of the initiative stating, “I remember when I was in Catholic school.  We had a student who spraypainted “Sister Mary is a slavedriver” on our rock.  They had him locked up by lunch.” Sister Mary Johnmarie of the Sisters of Notre Dame will lead the DHS project.  Sister stated “We not only know where you are, we know what you’re thinking and that you need to go to confession right now.  Our over 50 years of experience in watching every move of elementary school students has prepared us well for the task of helping DHS with their CDM requirements.  In fact, we anticipate that this will be far easier than teaching catechism to 7^th graders.”  The nuns also have considerable diagnostic experience since they routinely administer approximately 3,000 tests per student per year.  They are also adept at solving problems.  One commenter who preferred to remain anonymous said “I had a problem at home with my mother drinking and my father chasing nuns.  Sister Johnmarie was able to help.”  The move to bring in the nuns reportedly caught US adversaries off guard.  NSA intercepts from an unconfirmed source reportedly said “DHS didn’t have a prayer before, but now they have a heavenly hotline.”