As we previously reported, on January 16, 2026, the Department of War (DoW) announced an audit of 8(a) sole source awards over $20 million, joining the previously-announced audits by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Treasury Department (discussed here and here). A DoW memorandum also dated January 16, 2026 but only recently made public reveals that this audit is much broader in than originally announced. Any active 8(a) sole source contract, 8(a) set-aside contract, or small business set-aside contract over $20 million is under scrutiny. Continue Reading DoW’s Previously Announced 8(a) Audit Expanded to Include All Small Business Set-Aside Awards over $20 Million
8(a) Participants – and the 8(a) Program – Under the Microscope or on the Chopping Block
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has rolled out changes to its 8(a) Program even as it suspends 8(a) participants for failure to respond to the SBA’s December 5, 2025 8(a) audit letters.Continue Reading 8(a) Participants – and the 8(a) Program – Under the Microscope or on the Chopping Block
DoW Joins SBA’s Fight Against Alleged Pass-Through Fraud in the 8(a) Program
- First, the DoW will prioritize “a line-by-line
FYI – GAO Finds Key Person “Available” Despite Accepting Employment with a Different Company
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
GAO Cautions Agencies—Over-Redact at Your Own Peril
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
SBA Office of General Counsel Audit of Participants in the 8(a) Program and Beyond
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
SBA’s OHA Further Defines Extraordinary Action in SDVOSB Appeal
On September 4, 2025, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) granted an appeal challenging SBA’s determination that a service-disabled veteran did not control an entity applying for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) status based on a minority owner’s ability to block certain actions in the matter of VSBC Appeal of: Blue Skye Foods, LLC, SBA No. VSBC-442-A.Continue Reading SBA’s OHA Further Defines Extraordinary Action in SDVOSB Appeal
Recent GAO Sustain Includes Valuable Lessons on Proposal Preparation and More
GAO’s recent sustain of the protest filed by emissary LLC provides valuable lessons for potential offerors with respect to organizational conflict of interest (OCI) mitigation plans (and their impact on technical approach), as well as their descriptions of key personnel qualifications.Continue Reading Recent GAO Sustain Includes Valuable Lessons on Proposal Preparation and More
Meet the New Nationwide Injunction. Same as the Old Nationwide Injunction.
Last week, we wrote that concerns about excessive, unchecked executive branch power resulting from the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA—which declared universal/nationwide injunctions likely exceeded district courts’ equitable authority under FRCP 65—felt premature, because there were a number of other levers district courts could pull to deliver the equivalent of nationwide injunctive relief. We discussed how Section 705 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is one such lever. That section authorizes courts to “postpone the effective date” of a challenged agency action pending judicial review utilizing the same four-factor test applicable to requests for injunctive relief.Continue Reading Meet the New Nationwide Injunction. Same as the Old Nationwide Injunction.
GAO Moves the Goalposts: New Post-Debriefing Timeliness Trap for Protesters
The deadlines for filing a GAO protest are short and strictly enforced. In post-award protests, the general rule is that a company must file its protest within ten days of when the protester knows, or should have known, of its basis of protest. However, GAO’s regulations provide an exception to this rule for “protests challenging a procurement conducted on the basis of competitive proposals under which a debriefing is requested and, when requested, is required”—in such a situation, “[the] protest shall not be filed before the debriefing date offered to the protester, but shall be filed not later than 10 days after the date on which the debriefing is held.” 4 CFR §21.2(a)(2).Continue Reading GAO Moves the Goalposts: New Post-Debriefing Timeliness Trap for Protesters