Contractors and their government customers are starting to talk about the possibility of a shutdown at the end of this month if Congress can’t pass a Continuing Resolution (CR). While current indications are that there will not be a shutdown, that could very well change as both the White House and Congress seek to add “must pass” measures to any CR deal. House Republicans, for example, want to add a provision making it clear that non-citizens are prohibited from voting in federal elections. Democrats point out that existing law is already Read more
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a useful tool to assist federal contracting officers in making sound and timely award decisions but is not yet at the point where people can just take an AI-generated answer to the bank. That’s the bottom-line observation from experts in and out of government who want to integrate AI into the acquisition process but don’t want CO’s to overly rely upon it. Most believe that AI can be a useful tool for acquisition officials, streamlining rote processes and perhaps even help in analyzing offers. At the same time, these experts state that Read more
Not everything in government contracting must cost a lot of money. Although there are plenty of subscription services available to help government contractors predict their federal future, some of which have well-earned reputations, this can often result in companies overlooking free resources. There are multiple websites and news sources that cover the “Who”, “What”, “When,” “Where”, and “Why” of the federal market. All that’s required is a little bit of your time. A few popular sites include federalnewsnetwork.com (also available on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area), govexec.com, fedscoop.com, and nextgov.com. Each of these sites covers what’s happening in the federal IT and service market and, in some cases, the entire Read more
Hopes for having FY’25 appropriations measures passed by the end of this calendar year are fading with more budget watchers expecting final action only in the late winter/early spring of 2025, similar to what was seen for this year. One factor driving at least part of this belief is that any measures passed now would be seen as a “Biden budget”. As there will be no Biden Administration after January 20th, both presidential candidates and their Congressional supporters may want a chance to craft spending bills that more closely align with their priorities. Another factor is time. There are only three weeks remaining to pass even a continuing resolution, let alone make progress on permanent spending measures. Although subject to change, the House and Senate calendars currently forecast no October session. This means that the earliest FY’25 appropriations work could take place would be in the lame-duck session in November and December. While cutting the fiscal year in half is inherently a less efficient way to run the government, political realities may cause it to happen in successive years. Contractors and their federal customers should prepare for this possibility now. Lessons learned during the FY’24 appropriations process should be applied to avoid the most damaging outcomes. Contractors may also want to talk with customers about whether at least some planned projects could technically be started now, allowing work to continue under a CR. There is currently no indication of a government shutdown this year but keep in mind that delaying the FY’25 appropriations process into next year may bring the debt ceiling issue back to the forefront of discussions just as a new president and new Congress try to get to work.
The small protégé of a small mentor in a mentor-protégé joint venture would be required to have a certain amount of past performance of its own and not just rely on the past performance of its mentor under a proposed rule released in late August. This provision is just one of several proposals issued by the Small Business Administration that would tighten some small business rules while relaxing others. Contractors of all sizes may want to review the changes contained in SBA Docket Number SBA-2024-0007. Other modifications to the “all small” Read more