Government Contracts

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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 keeps 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 decision sustaining the protest of Castro & Company, LLC, which focused upon a firm’s organizational conflicts of interest.Continue Reading November 2025 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month: GAO Sustains OCI Where Awardee Was Providing Acquisition Support to the Source Selection Authority

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On December 18, 2025, the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (FY 2026 NDAA) (P.L. 119-60) was signed into law. The Act makes significant changes to defense acquisition, sourcing restrictions, and interactions between the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and the Department of Defense (DOD). Continue Reading The FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act

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On December 19, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $54.4 million settlement with Ceratizit USA, LLC, a distributor of tungsten carbide products, resolving allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by evading customs duties on products imported from China. This settlement is believed to be the largest ever customs-related FCA resolution, and this high-water mark underscores the government’s heightened enforcement focus on tariff evasion.Continue Reading Record-Setting False Claims Act Settlement Highlights DOJ Commitment to Customs Enforcement

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Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Swiss Automation Inc., an Illinois-based precision machining company, agreed to pay $421,234 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by inadequately protecting technical drawings for parts delivered to Department of Defense (DoD) prime contractors.  This settlement reflects DOJ’s persistent emphasis on cybersecurity compliance across all levels of the defense industrial base, reaching beyond prime contractors to encompass subcontractors and smaller suppliers.  The settlement is also a reminder to all contractors not to overlook the often confusing relationship between Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and export-controlled information.Continue Reading An ITAR-ly Critical Reminder of Cybersecurity Requirements: DOJ Settles with Swiss Automation, Inc.

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GAO’s key personnel rule is well-known—and often a source of frustration— amongst government contractors.  Proposed key personnel who become “unavailable” prior to contract award—especially where they have accepted employment with a different company—may doom an offeror’s proposal by rendering it noncompliant with solicitation requirements.  But GAO’s recent decision in FYI – For Your Information, Inc., B-423774, B-423774.2 (Dec. 19, 2025) provides some potential relief from that rule. Continue Reading FYI – GAO Finds Key Person “Available” Despite Accepting Employment with a Different Company

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In this episode, Crowell’s Christian Curran, Zachary Schroeder, and Bryan Dewan cover the latest NDAA protest provision, GAO’s Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2025, and GAO’s sustain of a bid protest related to an impaired objectivity organizational conflict of interest (OCI). Crowell & Moring’s “All Things Protest” podcast keeps you up…

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Bid protest practitioners in recent years have witnessed agencies’ increasing efforts to limit the production of documents and information in response to Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid protests—often will little pushback from GAO. This practice has underscored the notable difference in the scope of bid protest records before GAO versus the Court of Federal Claims. However, in Tiger Natural Gas, Inc., B-423744, Dec. 10, 2025, 2025 CPD ¶ __, GAO made clear that there are limits to the scope of redactions, and GAO will sustain a protest where there is insufficient evidence that the agency’s actions were reasonable.Continue Reading GAO Cautions Agencies—Over-Redact at Your Own Peril

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In its recently published FY 2025 Annual Report (Report), the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) provided detailed statistics about appeals involving disputes between contractors and civilian agencies.  This past year, the civilian agencies with the highest number of docketed claims at the Board were the Department of Veterans Affairs (70 appeals), the United States Agency for International Development (43 appeals), the General Services Administration (36 appeals), the Department of State (12 appeals ), and the Department of Education (12 appeals).  These agencies accounted for 173, or approximately 78%, of the 221 Contract Disputes Act (CDA) appeals docketed at the Board. Continue Reading CBCA’s FY 2025 Report – Examining the Numbers

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Every year since 1979, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) has issued a Report of Transactions and Proceedings (Report), which provides helpful statistics for contractors and practitioners regarding the ASBCA’s docket and success rates for contractor litigation and ADR.  The ASBCA published its FY 2025 Report on October 30, 2025. Continue Reading ASBCA’s FY 2025 Report – A Look at the Numbers