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Category Archives: Government Contracts

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Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Government Contracts

DOJ Announces Initiative to Use False Claims Act to Investigate DEI Practices

On May 19, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Deputy Attorney General announced its new Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, which aims to use the False Claims Act (FCA) to investigate and pursue claims against entities that tolerate antisemitism, allow men to enter women’s spaces or compete in female athletic competitions, or engage in unlawful… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

Executive Order Initiates Commercial Focus in Federal Procurement Reform

On April 16, 2025, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order titled “Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts,” which establishes the Administration’s policy of procuring “commercially  available products and services, including those that can be modified to fill agencies’ needs, to the maximum extent practicable.” This includes procurements made pursuant to the Federal Acquisition… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement – The White House

On April 15, 2025, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order titled “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement” that seeks to reform the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) and agency-specific supplements to contain only those “provisions required by statute or essential to sound procurement.”  Along with a supplemental fact sheet, the Executive Order states that “any… Continue Reading
Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Government Contracts

Department of Justice Suggests “Aggressive” Enforcement of False Claims Act

In a speech to the Federal Bar Association’s annual qui tam conference on Feb. 20, 2025, Michael Granston, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Commercial Litigation Branch at the U.S. Department of Justice, discussed how the Trump administration plans to “aggressively” enforce the False Claims Act (FCA). His statements come on top of other comments from Trump… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

DoD Issues Final CMMC Framework for Defense Contractors

After a nearly five-year rulemaking process, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published the Final Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 (CMMC) program rule in the Federal Register on Oct. 15, 2024, codified at 32 CFR Part 170. Contract clauses implementing the CMMC program rule will be issued as part of the Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement,… Continue Reading
Government Contracts, Sanctions, Trade Embargo, and Export Controls

Disruptive Technology Strike Force Announces Its First Declination to Prosecute Under the National Security Division’s Voluntary Self-Disclosure Program

On May 22, 2024, the Department of Justice’s National Security Division (“NSD”) announced its first declination of prosecution for a company under the voluntary self-disclosure program established by the National Security Division Enforcement Policy for Business Organizations (“NSD Enforcement Policy”). An individual who worked for a United States-based biochemical company, along with his co-conspirator, each… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Government Contracts, Sanctions, Trade Embargo, and Export Controls

Disruptive Technology Strike Force Continues Focus on Trade Secret Theft, Export Control Enforcement

During a summit celebrating its one-year anniversary, the Disruptive Technology Strike Force provided updates on its efforts to prevent authoritarian regimes and hostile nation-states from acquiring critical technologies. Read on for details about a new expansion of the effort, recent prosecutions and the group’s continued focus on cases involving theft of trade secrets and export… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

SBA Issues Interim Guidance After Ultima Decision Finds 8(a) Program Violates Equal Protection

Influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court’s SFFA college affirmative action decision, on July 19, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee enjoined the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from determining federal contractor eligibility for its 8(a) Business Development program according to a “rebuttable presumption” that individuals of certain racial groups are socially… Continue Reading
Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Government Contracts

Supreme Court Clarifies the False Claims Act’s Knowledge Requirement, Eliminating a Potential Defense for Government Contractors and Healthcare Providers Accused of Fraud

On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of whistleblower plaintiffs (referred to as “relators”) in consolidated False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases in a decision that clarified the application of the FCA’s knowledge requirement.  In United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., the Court held that the FCA reaches defendants who… Continue Reading
Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Government Contracts

DOJ and Aerojet Settle for $9 Million in Qui Tam Cybersecurity False Claims Act Case

On July 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a $9 million settlement with federal government contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc. for alleged violations of the False Claims Act in a case pending in the Eastern District of California. The settlement results from alleged false statements by Aerojet related to compliance with Department of Defense… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Government Contracts

Largest-Ever Small-Business Contracting Fraud Settlement Related to Pass-Through Subcontracting

Federal contractors should take note of a $48.5 million False Claims Act settlement between the Department of Justice and TriMark USA LLC — the largest-ever FCA settlement based on allegations of small-business set-aside contracting fraud. DOJ alleged that TriMark had a plan to circumvent specific small-business contracting requirements by providing significant assistance to three small… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

CMMC 2.0: Department of Defense Revamps Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program

On November 4, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced significant changes to the strategic direction of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.  Specifically, DoD stated that the goal of these changes is to simplify the CMMC standard and prioritize the protection of certain types of controlled defense information.  After a nine-month internal review by the… Continue Reading
Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Government Contracts

Webinar: OSHA ETS Employee COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Mandates

New Requirements, Tips and Traps for Large Employers November 10, 2021 Complimentary Webinar 1-2 p.m. (ET) | 12-1 p.m. (CT) | 10-11 a.m. (PT) REGISTER NOW On Nov. 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employees of large employers either to get vaccinated or to test negative… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Government Contracts

Corporate Campaign Contributions Are a Crime, Independent Expenditures Legitimate: Sixth Circuit Explains the Difference

The Sixth Circuit has upheld the felony conviction of a former state party chair for illegal campaign contributions by a corporation he owned, in a case that both serves as an important reminder of the prohibition on corporate contributions to federal campaigns and shows that the Justice Department may be stepping up criminal election law… Continue Reading
Compliance, Government Contracts

Frequently Asked Questions About the New COVID-19 Vaccine Executive Actions

As McGuireWoods noted in a Sept. 10, 2021, alert, President Biden’s broad six-part strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is raising many questions for employers. While employers await the much-anticipated regulations, a few answers to questions regarding the proposed federal vaccine requirements already are available. For answers to frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

Biden Administration Orders Improvements to Cybersecurity and Federal Networks Amid Cyberattacks

On May 12, President Biden signed an executive order mandating that the federal government significantly improve cybersecurity within its networks and modernize federal cyber defenses. This move follows a series of cyberattacks on private companies and federal government networks over the past year, including a recent incident that resulted in gasoline shortages along the U.S.… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

Biden Administration Orders $15 Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors

On April 27, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) requiring federal contractors performing service, construction or concession contracts to pay a $15 minimum wage to those employees who are working on such contracts. As noted in the White House Fact Sheet, this EO will build on Executive Order 13658 (signed in February 2014), under which the government… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

NSCAI Recommends $40 Billion Investment in Artificial Intelligence, R&D and Innovation

Congress stood-up the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) to make recommendations to the President and Congress “to advance the development of artificial intelligence [AI], machine learning, and associated technologies … to comprehensively address the national security and defense needs of the United States.” The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Section 1051 further instructed the… Continue Reading
Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Government Contracts

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Clarify False Claims Act Falsity Standard

The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to address a circuit split regarding the standard for establishing that a statement material to a claim for payment is false under the False Claims Act (FCA); specifically, whether the FCA requires pleading and proof of an “objectively false statement,” or whether liability can be based on allegedly false… Continue Reading
Government Contracts

Ask Those Questions: Federal Circuit Highlights Required Step for GAO Protesters Seeking Relaxed Automatic Stay Deadline in DOD Procurements

Disappointed government contractors and their legal counsel weigh the benefits of filing bid protests at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) versus the Court of Federal Claims (COFC). One of the key benefits to filing a protest with the GAO is that, under the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) automatic stay provision, a GAO protester who… Continue Reading

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