On March 20, 2025, the White House issued Executive Order (“EO”), “Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement,” to consolidate domestic civilian contracting for “common goods and services” within one agency—the General Services Administration (“GSA”). The EO defines “common goods and services” as those described in the Category Management system first developed as part of a previous effort, dating back to 2014, to coordinate spending across the government.Continue Reading Trump’s Government Contracts Rebrand: From “Government” Procurement to “Just-GSA” Procurements
Trump’s “Cost Efficiency Initiative” Expected to Decrease Federal Contracting, Grant, and Loan Funding
On February 26, 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order (“EO”), “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Cost Efficiency Initiative,” to transform federal spending on “covered” contracts, grants, and loans. The EO defines “[c]overed contracts and grants” as “discretionary spending through Federal contracts, grants, loans, and related instruments, but excludes direct assistance to individuals; expenditures related to immigration enforcement, law enforcement, the military, public safety, and the intelligence community; and other critical, acute, or emergency spending, as determined by the relevant Agency Head.”Continue Reading Trump’s “Cost Efficiency Initiative” Expected to Decrease Federal Contracting, Grant, and Loan Funding
Navigating the Trump Administration’s Pause on IIJA and IRA Funding: Key Implications for Infrastructure Stakeholders
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
Putting the “AI” in Compliance—DOJ Updates its Corporate Compliance Program Guidance to Address Emerging AI Risks and Leveraging Data
On Monday, September 23, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ), released an update to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP) guidance. The ECCP guidance was last revised in March 2023, which brought a number of significant changes, including a focus on compensation and incentive structures (e.g., clawbacks), and third party messaging applications. This 2024 update, while not as significant in scope as its predecessor, nonetheless highlights the DOJ’s focus on new and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), as part of its evolving assessment of what makes a corporate compliance program truly effective, and how prosecutors should evaluate risk assessments and other management tools at the time of a corporate resolution.Continue Reading Putting the “AI” in Compliance—DOJ Updates its Corporate Compliance Program Guidance to Address Emerging AI Risks and Leveraging Data
HHS Proposes Using Procurement Policy to Push Health IT Standards
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues its push on health data interoperability with a proposed rule, HHS Acquisition Regulation: Acquisition of Information Technology; Standards for Health Information Technology. Specifically, HHS proposes to modify the Health and Human Service Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) to implement an HHS-wide policy to align requirements related to the procurement of health IT with standards and implementation specifications adopted by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) or compliance with the voluntary ONC Health IT Certification Program. This proposed rule was published on August 9, 2024, just 4 days after the ONC proposed HTI-2 rule was published in the Federal Register.Continue Reading HHS Proposes Using Procurement Policy to Push Health IT Standards
OMB Final Rule Rewrites the Uniform Guidance for Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Other Federal Financial Assistance
On April 22, 2024, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a Final Rule significantly revising the Uniform Guidance for grants, cooperative agreements, and other federal financial assistance. The Final Rule (titled “OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance”), and OMB’s accompanying memorandum to agencies and reference guide, state that the revisions aim to streamline and clarify the grant rules and improve management, transparency, and oversight of federal financial assistance. Agencies must implement the Final Rule by October 1, 2024; however, agencies may apply it to federal awards as early as June 21, 2024.Continue Reading OMB Final Rule Rewrites the Uniform Guidance for Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Other Federal Financial Assistance
GSA Clarifies Permissibility of Upfront Payments for Software-as-a-Service Offerings
On March 15, 2024, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued Acquisition Letter MV-2024-01 providing guidance to GSA contracting officers on the use of upfront payments for acquisitions of cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Specifically, this acquisition letter clarifies that despite statutory prohibitions against the use of “advance” payments outside of narrowly-prescribed circumstances, upfront payments for SaaS licenses do not constitute an “advance” payment subject to these restrictions when made under the following conditions:Continue Reading GSA Clarifies Permissibility of Upfront Payments for Software-as-a-Service Offerings
Nuziard v. Minority Business Development Agency: Another Blow To Federally Sponsored Affirmative Action Efforts
On March 5, 2024, a federal judge in Texas struck down a federally-sponsored racial preference extended to minority groups seeking to access capital and government contracts. Nuziard v. Minority Business Development Agency (“Nuziard”). Plaintiffs, who are non-minority business owners, challenged a preference provided by the Minority Business Development Agency (“MBDA”), a bureau of the Department of Commerce, to “socially or economically disadvantaged individual[s],” defined to include African Americans, Hasidic Jews, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders. The court struck down the MBDA’s presumption that such racial minorities are socially disadvantaged, finding the preference violated the Equal Protection Clause. Nuziard, like the recent decision by a federal court in Tennessee in Ultima Services Corp. v. U.S. Department of Agriculture (“Ultima”), follows the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Pres & Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023) (“SFFA”) and, like Ultima, advances the mission of activist organizations across the country seeking to invalidate race-based presumptions in federally funded and sponsored entitlement programs. Continue Reading Nuziard v. Minority Business Development Agency: Another Blow To Federally Sponsored Affirmative Action Efforts
Just Trust Me on This: Allegation of Contract’s Existence Is Sufficient to Establish Jurisdiction Under Contract Disputes Act
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in Avue Technologies Corp. v. Department of Health and Human Services that an appellant’s non-frivolous allegation of a contract with the government via an end-user license agreement (EULA) incorporated into another contractor’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) agreement was sufficient to establish jurisdiction under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA).Continue Reading Just Trust Me on This: Allegation of Contract’s Existence Is Sufficient to Establish Jurisdiction Under Contract Disputes Act
The FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act: Key Provisions Government Contractors Should Know
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, signed into law on December 22, 2023, makes numerous changes to acquisition policy. Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group discusses the most consequential changes for government contractors here. These include changes that impose a new conflict of interest regime for government contractors with a connection to China, impose new restrictions and requirements, require government reporting to Congress on acquisition authorities and programs, and alter other processes and procedures to which government contractors are subject. The FY 2024 NDAA also includes the Federal Data Center Enhancement Act, the American Security Drone Act, and the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2024.Continue Reading The FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act: Key Provisions Government Contractors Should Know