Government Contracts

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On December 5, 2025, the Small Business Administration (SBA) sent letters to 4,300 current and recent participants in the 8(a) Business Development Program requiring production by January 5, 2026, of financial records, contracting and subcontracting agreements, and employee records.  Below we discuss the genesis of the U.S. Government’s focus on fraud in small business programs, the new SBA request for documents, the coming Treasury audit of preference-based contracts, and more.

Continue Reading SBA Office of General Counsel Audit of Participants in the 8(a) Program and Beyond
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The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series.  In this series, Crowell Consultant (and former GAO Bid Protest Hearing Officer) Cherie Owen provides a monthly summary of a notable bid protest sustain decision. However, October 2025 was an unusual month: due to the government shutdown and lapse in appropriations, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was closed for the entire month. Protesters could not file new protests, and GAO did not issue any decisions. While the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) remained open, the few protest decisions announced did not include any sustained protests. Sustain-less months are not unprecedented—we’ve previously noted similar droughts in May 2025, February 2025, July 2024, October 2023, and February 2023. 

Continue Reading October 2025 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month: Amid Shutdown Silence, A Look at COFC’s Prejudice Ruling
Photo of Peter J. EyrePhoto of M.Yuan Zhou

This week’s episode covers Pentagon’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy announced by Secretary Hegseth on November 7, 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…

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The facts before the Third Circuit in the recently decided case of Patel v. United States illustrate how parties can put themselves in a bind if they make factual admissions when resolving a criminal case involving fraud on the government while not simultaneously resolving the government’s civil claims under the False Claims Act (FCA) for the same underlying conduct.

Continue Reading Buying Peace: The Importance of Releasing FCA Liability When Resolving Criminal Allegations of Fraud Against the Government
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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 Group 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 decision sustaining the protest of Island Peer Review Organization, Inc., d/b/a IPRO.

Continue Reading September 2025 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month: GAO Criticizes Agency’s Lack of Documentation, Highlighting the Importance of Contemporaneous Recordkeeping
Photo of Peter J. EyrePhoto of Skye Mathieson

This week’s episode covers common questions about the end of the federal government shutdown and steps contractors should consider, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and Skye Mathieson. 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…

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As the government emerges from its recent shutdown, federal contractors—and their counsel—must prepare for a surge in bid protest activity, especially at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Court of Federal Claims (COFC). The shutdown brought the regular bid protest process to a standstill, and its reopening is set to create unprecedented backlogs and overlapping deadlines. Here’s what contractors should anticipate in the coming days and weeks.

Continue Reading Restarting the Protest Process: What Government Contractors Can Expect as the Shutdown Ends
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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 attorneys cover impacts of the government shutdown on bid protests, GAO’s new pleading standards, and GAO’s dismissal of a…

Photo of Cherie Owen

The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series.  In this series, Crowell’s Government Contracts Group 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 the protester’s decisive victory in Enviremedial Services, Inc., a case in which Crowell successfully represented the protester in challenging both the past performance evaluation and the best value determination.

Continue Reading August 2025 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month: GAO Sustains Protest of Past Performance Evaluation and Best Value Tradeoff on Multiple Grounds