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On March 31, 2026, the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), issued Memorandum M-26-10 titled, “Reinforcing Transparency, Accountability, and Oversight of Federal Technology,” (Memorandum) containing a new policy designed to reinforce oversight, transparency, and accountability across federal technology programs, increase accountability for agency chief information officers (CIOs), and enhance information sharing among government agencies.  OMB issued the policy in furtherance of several executive orders (EOs) issued by President Trump, including: EO 13833, “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Agency Chief Information Officers,” EO 14240, “Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement,” and EO 14243, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos.”  

Continue Reading OMB Issues New Policy on Federal IT Transparency and Acquisition Oversight
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This week’s episode covers the March 26 Executive Order titled “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors” and the March 31 OMB Memo titled “Reinforcing Transparency, Accountability, and Oversight of Federal Technology”, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and Yuan Zhou. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.

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Photo of Peter J. EyrePhoto of Kris D. MeadePhoto of Trina Fairley BarlowPhoto of Anuj VohraPhoto of Warrington ParkerPhoto of Rebecca SpringerPhoto of Brian Tully McLaughlinPhoto of Katie ErnoPhoto of Alexandra Barbee-GarrettPhoto of Jared EngelkingPhoto of Jillian AmbrosePhoto of Corey Hirsch-Lestienne

On March 26, 2026, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) titled Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors. The EO declares diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) “activities” “unethical and often illegal,” and imposes new obligations on federal contractors and subcontractors related to DEI programming. Contractors that do business with the federal government — or that work as subcontractors for companies that do — should review the EO closely to determine the extent to which they are compliant with the new requirements.

Continue Reading Déjà Vu? New Executive Order Outlines Restrictions on Contractor and Subcontractor DEI Activity
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Crowell & Moring’s “All Things Protest” podcast keeps you up to date on major trends in bid protest litigation, key developments in high-profile cases, and best practices in state and federal procurement. In this episode, Crowell’s Christian Curran, Zachary Schroeder, and Bryan Dewan discuss challenges contractors face when protesting agency evaluations of proposals, along with tips for identifying viable protest arguments.

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The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series.  In this series, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice will keep you up to date with a summary of one of the most notable bid protest sustain decisions each month.  Below, Crowell Consultant (and former GAO Bid Protest Hearing Officer) Cherie Owen discusses GAO’s first sustain decision of 2026, which included an important discussion of unequal treatment.  

Continue Reading January 2026 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month: GAO Sustains Protest on Multiple Grounds Highlighting Unequal Treatment of Offerors
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False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments hit record highs yet again in FY 2025, surpassing the previous record by over $1 billion and setting a new high-water mark for the number of new FCA cases filed.  These records were built both on existing enforcement priorities such as pandemic-related fraud and healthcare enforcement actions and new guidance from the Executive Branch instructing the Department of Justice to enforce its 2025 priorities including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), civil rights, and customs issues.  Procurement fraud, cybersecurity issues, and small business fraud also remained focal points, with significant settlements in each of those areas. 

Continue Reading The Top FCA Developments of 2025
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This week’s episode covers a significant proposed contract clause, GSAR 552.239-7001, Basic Safeguarding of Artificial Intelligence Systems, for inclusion in GSA Schedule solicitations and contracts involving AI, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and Yuan Zhou. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.

Click below to listen or access from one of these links:

PodBean | SoundCloud | iTunes

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On March 6, 2026, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a significant proposed contract clause, GSAR 552.239-7001, Basic Safeguarding of Artificial Intelligence Systems (“Clause”), for inclusion in GSA Schedule solicitations and contracts for AI capabilities.  The proposed clause would impose substantial new requirements related to AI sources, intellectual property rights, data use, change management, and performance standards.  The Clause would also take precedence over any other contract terms (including commercial licensing terms) related to AI, including a Seller’s terms of sale and service to which the Government had previously agreed.  GSA requests comments by March 20, 2026.

An analysis of the proposed clause follows below.

Continue Reading AI for Government: 7 Days for Contractor Comments on GSA Proposed Contract Clause for AI Systems
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Hosts Jason Crawford and Agustin Orozco are joined by special guests Alice Hall-Partyka and Savanna Williams to discuss the administration’s novel use of the False Claims Act to advance social policy goals. The episode takes a specific look at the issues of gender-affirming care and anti-discrimination laws and discusses the recent announcement of the the new DOJ Division for National Fraud Enforcement. “Let’s Talk FCA” is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False Claims Act.

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This episode addresses efforts by various federal government agencies to audit and investigate purported ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ in small business set-aside awards, and is hosted by Yuan Zhou, Olivia Lynch and Zach Schroeder. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.

Click below to listen or access from one of these links:

PodBean | SoundCloud | iTunes