On the evening of November 9, the U.S. Senate agreed to a deal aimed at ending the government shutdown.  The deal is the first step toward reopening the federal government and will now face a vote from the House of Representatives. The federal government has been shut down since October 1 after annual appropriations lapsed. ... Continue Reading…More

Contractors working with the federal government understand that contract modifications are a fact of life.  Projects rarely unfold exactly as planned – and changes to the scope of work, performance deadlines, and pricing (just to name a few) all require formal contract modifications. With those modifications often comes something else expected — but still dangerous:... Continue Reading…More

The Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) of 1984 establishes a procedure that effectively pauses performance of a federal contract award during a bid protest. If a disappointed bidder files a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) within certain set timelines, then the government is automatically required to maintain the status quo while the protest... Continue Reading…More

Timing is everything when it comes to bid protests at GAO. There is a mountain of GAO case law dismissing untimely protests.  Contractors must strictly follow GAO’s regulations to avoid that fate and obtain a Competition in Contract Act (CICA) stay. Today, we address the question of whether government agencies can override GAO’s deadlines by... Continue Reading…More

Federal construction contracts often involve unforeseen delays.  The key question is who is responsible for the resulting costs. A new decision from the ASBCA provides a blueprint for how contractors can maximize recovery for government-directed suspensions under the FAR 52.242-14 (Suspension of Work). Understanding your contractual rights under the FAR and documenting impacts early can... Continue Reading…More

Federal contractors understandably associate litigation at the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) with recovering monetary damages.  Appealing denied claims to the COFC (along with the Boards of Contract Appeals) is the exclusive way for contractors to recover damages for changes, delays, and other government-caused impacts under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA). But contractors can suffer... Continue Reading…More

Price realism challenges stand out as a common basis for bid protests in federal procurements. A competitor’s unrealistically low pricing may signal a lack of understanding or commitment to contract performance. Price realism protests often challenge an agency’s failure to adequately assess whether proposed prices are too low to support successful execution of the work.... Continue Reading…More

Federal contractors need to be proactive about detecting and neutralizing or mitigating Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI). The FAR’s OCI provisions (currently found at FAR Subpart 9.5) promote the fairness and integrity of the procurement process.  The provisions are intended to ensure a level playing field by preventing unfair competitive advantages, biased decision-making, or impaired... Continue Reading…More

In what is sure to be an on-going series, we have the latest update regarding the FAR 2.0 rollout. You can see my opening thoughts on the FAR 2.0 initiative and how it will affect federal contractors here. Releasing the First Rollout On May 2, 2025, the FAR Council released substantive rewrites of FAR Parts... Continue Reading…More

GAO just sharpened the distinction between winning and losing protest arguments related to key project personnel. The issue turns on the question of whether the winning proposal included “material misrepresentations” – and whether the protester has the ammunition to prove it. The decision offers a valuable lesson for contractors considering a protest on a bait-and-switch... Continue Reading…More