Federal agencies will spend an estimated $217 billion between now and the end of the fiscal year according to Bloomberg Government. That’s a significant amount of money on the table and obtaining a share of it often determines whether or not a contractor has a successful year. Bloomberg further estimates that 60% of total dollars, or $132 billion, will be spent via standing IDIQ contracts such as the GSA Schedules, NASA SEWP, and NIH CIOSP-3, among others. Further, the Department of Defense will collectively be responsible for about half of total spending, with the Army projected to be the biggest single buyer in the defense community. The leading civilian agency is expected to be the VA, where spending on both IT Read more
The Department of Homeland Security recently issued comprehensive cybersecurity regulations mandating steps contractors must take when handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Not only did DHS leapfrog ahead of similar rules coming soon from DOD, but the agency’s rules follow different standards and contain a different definition of what constitutes CUI from current and prospective DOD rules. The DHS definition of CUI “is any information the Government creates or possesses, or an entity creates or possesses for or on behalf of the Government (other than classified information) that a law, regulation, or Read more
Cybersecurity enhancement, customer experience improvement, secure supply chain implementation. All of these are goals that the Department of Homeland Security, to name one agency, is working on right now. All are worthy goals, and all have a tie to government acquisition. Not all of them, however, can be successfully implemented at the same time. There simply aren’t enough resources at DHS, or most other federal agencies, to make every wish list item a priority. This is an issue that government contractors must consider as well, Read more
The House Armed Services Committee has voted out its version of the FY’24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the bill that sets broad spending limits and strategy priorities for DOD and usually contains a host of new directives that impact procurement. It will authorize $886 billion in total defense and defense-related spending. At the same time, the Senate is making progress on most of its FY’24 appropriations measures, skipping subcommittee mark up and going to full committee to save time. By comparison, there was no top-level agreement among Senate appropriators last year at this time to allow for such action, so this year’s work is Read more
The federal district court for the District of Columbia just threw a major wrench into how some companies determine whether or not they are small based on their annual revenue. The decision, in Bid Solve, Inc., 2023 WL 3521616, not only complicates size determinations when based on annual sales but may likely expand a small firm’s False Claims Act exposure. In short, Small Business Administration (SBA) guidance typically directs a company doing business under a NAIC’s code using an annual receipts size determination to rely on revenue reported on its tax returns. Companies are supposed to take a multi-year average, now typically five Read more