There is a growing Senate consensus that defense spending needs to be significantly increased over and above what the House is proposing for the country to meet its national security needs.  House appropriators have put forth a spending level of a little over $833 billion for FY’25.  While that’s technically 1% above this year, it amounts to a cut in spending once inflation is taken into account.  Senators on both sides of the political aisle don’t think that’s enough with some proposing the addition of $25 billion more.  There are, not surprisingly, some strings attached to support for a higher number, primarily among Senate Democrats.  Senator Patty Read more

GSA is making good on its promise to use data collected via the Schedules Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) program to assist other agencies in making buying decisions.  Contractors need to be aware of the new Procurement Co-Pilot Tool and what it tells customers about your pricing and that of your competitors.  The new tool is a web application that supports “robust pricing and contract research” for acquisition professionals and program managers, according to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP).  In addition to TDR information, GSA is also scraping relevant data from SAM.gov.  While the Procurement Co-Pilot is also intended to make the agency RFI process faster and easier, contractors may want to focus on the pricing data that Read more

It’s time for a gut check at the doorstep of the federal fourth quarter.  It’s already been well-documented that the pace of business will be especially brisk this year with the very late appropriations cycle.  Will your company, though, be ready?  It’s not just government agencies that can be mired in process.  Federal contractors, too, can become obsessed with “preparing to prepare”.   Process becomes the priority and business opportunities slip away.  What value is a process that becomes an end to itself?   While Bill Hader’s line from “Night at the Museum” – “We’re Americans, we don’t plan!” – makes for a good laugh, some planning is, of course, absolutely essential.  There’s a reason why the sequence is “ready, aim, fire.”  Being focused is Read more

While busy season comes next month for contractors, it’s already here for Congress.  What the body is doing, or not doing, can impact your federal business.  These are three reasons why you should be paying attention:

1.  No, All the Appropriations Activity Doesn’t Mean We Will Have On-Time Spending Bills:  Yes, the House of Representatives is moving at break-neck speed to pass all 12 of its appropriations measures prior to summer recess.  That doesn’t mean, though, that the fiscal year will start on time.  The House-passed measures are likely going to have significant differences from their Senate counterparts. Plus, the Senate isn’t moving as quickly.  The timeline still suggests that a December start date is the best contractors can hope for.

2.  Mitigating Risk in AI Procurement:  A bill introduced by two Senators, The Promoting Responsible Evaluation and Procurement to Advance Readiness for Enterprise-wide Deployment (PREPARED) for AI Act, would be the first law to codify guardrails for the use of AI in public sector procurement, if passed.  The bill is a bi-partisan measure and would, among other things, mandate that government contracts for AI products and services include safety information regarding data ownership, civil rights, civil liberties, privacy and adverse incident reporting.

3.  Election Year Hearings and Politics:  While there is a lot of work to do, including passage of the FY’25 Defense Authorization Act, Congress is also allotting significant time to hearings that they hope will provide fodder for election year messaging.  Right now that means that Dr. Anthony Fauci is being grilled in both the House and Senate over COVID issues, that the House is threatening the Attorney General with a contempt of Congress action, and that some Senators believe that inflation is the fault of “greedy” companies.  All of these endeavors take away from “the business of the people”, but are inevitable when the Presidency, all of the House, and one-third of the Senate are up for grabs this Fall.  Contractors are reminded, though, that Congress can do things for you or to you.  As such, paying attention to their focus areas is important.

GSA’s IT Schedule program needs attention.  It’s not that the program isn’t driving sales.  It does, but apparently at a cost that is increasingly high to industry.  A recent industry discussion covered a number of specific issues that are ripe for intervention to ensure that the program continues to benefit GSA, contractors, and their common government customers. First up are multiple reports of contracting officers essentially saying “I can ask for whatever I want, I’m the CO” (uh, no you can’t).  This results in data requests that apparently have thrown the Paperwork Reduction Act out the window.  Another is a financial review team that, quite literally, leaves offerors in tears.  There is tough and then there is unprofessional.  Perhaps Read more