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On February 6, 2025, Crowell & Moring presented a webinar, “The New Normal: What U.S. Government Contractors and Grant Recipients Need to Know About Terminations, Stop Work Orders, Tariffs, and the Path Forward in 2025.”  In this webinar (available here), Crowell & Moring lawyers specializing in U.S. government contracts and grants addressed:

Continue Reading What U.S. Government Contractors and Grant Recipients Need To Know About Terminations, Stop Work Orders, Tariffs, and the Path Forward in 2025
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In this episode, hosts Jason Crawford, Agustin Orozco, and Yuan Zhou discuss the evolving disclosure landscape and the various risks and rewards that contractors must weigh when deciding what to disclose, when to disclose, and where to direct the disclosure. 

“Let’s Talk FCA” is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False Claims Act.

Click below to listen or access from one of these links:
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This week’s episode covers a proposed rule to implement the 2022 Preventing OCIs in Federal Acquisition Act, a proposed rule amending the FAR to implement federal government-wide Controlled Unclassified Information cybersecurity, training, and incident reporting requirements, and a final rule amending multiple aspects of the SBA’s small business size and status programs, 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:

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In MVL USA, Inc. et al. v. United States, the United States Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”) held that the provisions of FAR 22.505, 52.222-33 and 52.222-34 (collectively, the “PLA mandate”), which required the use of project labor agreements (“PLAs”) on large-scale federal construction projects valued above or at a certain threshold, violated the Competition in Contracting Act (“CICA”). As we previously reported here, former-President Biden issued Executive Order 14063 in February 2022, instructing federal agencies to require construction contractors and subcontractors on projects valued at $35 million or more to “agree, for that project, to negotiate or become a party to” a PLA. A few months later, the FAR Council promulgated a final rule implementing the executive order in FAR 22.505, 52.222-33 and 52.222-34. 

Continue Reading COFC Holds That Federal PLA Mandate Is Unlawful; Reinterprets Blue and Gold Waiver Rule
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GAO’s recent dismissal of the protest filed by Worrell Contracting Company highlights several important lessons for government contractors.  Worrell Contracting Company, Inc., B‑423208, Jan. 22, 2025, involved a procurement conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The agency had set the proposal submission date as 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on September 27.  However, approximately 8 hours before the proposal submission deadline—at 11:39 p.m. on September 26, the agency issued an amendment that was posted to SAM.gov.  The amendment provided a revised price schedule and also extended the proposal submission due date to September 30.  Worrell apparently did not notice the SAM.gov posting and proceeded to submit its proposal by the initial September 27 due date.  Worrell’s submission failed to acknowledge the amendment, as required by the solicitation.  The VA eliminated Worrell’s proposal and made award to another offeror.  Worrell protested its elimination on December 2—more than a month after the proposal due date had passed—primarily arguing that the award was improper “because the late posting of the amendment caused an unfair disadvantage and impacted the fairness of the procurement process.”  Worrell further argued that “the timing of the amendment did not allow for proper or effective notice to all offerors, which is violation of fair competition principles and section 15.203 of the FAR.” 

Continue Reading Dismissal of Protest Reminds Contractors that Solicitation Flaws Must Be Protested Before the Proposal Due Date
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Last month marked the 16-year anniversary of the FAR Mandatory Disclosure Rule (MDR) going into effect, which created requirements for federal contractors to disclose violations of specific categories of federal criminal law and violations of the civil False Claims Act (FCA).  But the passage of time has not simplified the analysis that government contractors must undertake when they learn of allegations about conduct that could be disclosable to the government.  Rather, legal developments and new Department of Justice (DOJ) policies have created additional considerations for federal contractors as they navigate a complex disclosure landscape.

Continue Reading The Evolving Landscape of Disclosure Considerations for Government Contractors
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On January 20, 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO) that revoked 78 executive orders and presidential memorandums issued by President Biden between January 21, 2021 and January 19, 2025 that do not align with Trump Administration policies.  Of those revoked by the EO, several impact government contracts and federal procurement, including, but not limited to:

Continue Reading President Trump Rescinds 78 Executive Orders and Presidential Memorandums
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On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, aimed at ensuring U.S. foreign assistance is “fully aligned” with the administration’s foreign policy goals. The Order called for an immediate 90-day pause on all foreign development assistance, applicable to all assistance funding for foreign countries, NGOs, international organizations, and federal contractors.

Continue Reading State Department Pauses Almost All Foreign Assistance Funding
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As the United States government transitions from the Biden Administration to the Trump Administration, significant changes are already impacting infrastructure policy, with likely consequences to both planned and in-progress infrastructure projects around the country. Disruptions in funding and other policy changes are creating uncertainty for investors and stakeholders involved in infrastructure projects, particularly the potential impacts on projects funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, as previewed in our January 18thclient alert, “Implications of Incoming Administration Changes to Infrastructure Initiatives.”

Continue Reading Navigating the Trump Administration’s Pause on IIJA and IRA Funding: Key Implications for Infrastructure Stakeholders
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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 the most notable bid protest sustain decision each month.  Below, Crowell Consultant Cherie Owen discusses Spatial Front, Inc., B-422058.4, B-422058.5, Dec. 6, 2024, 2024 CPD ¶ 30, in which GAO sustained a protest where the agency awarded a contract under the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) but the required services were outside the scope of the awardee’s FSS contract.

Continue Reading December 2024 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month: Protester’s Persistence Pays Off