On July 30, 2020, General Services Administration’s (“GSA”) Office of Small Business Utilization hosted a webinar on the implementation of Section 889 of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”).  The Alston & Bird Government Contracts team has been closely following developments and previously wrote about Section 889 Part B here. The webinar confirmed GSA’s position that Part B of Section 889 applies to every sector, no matter what a company makes or sells, and all systems a government contractor uses—whether in the performance of a government contract [...]Re ..read more

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) both administers and enforces the following three equal employment opportunity laws: (1) Executive Order 11246; (2) Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; and (3) Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), as amended.[1] These aforementioned laws forbid employment discrimination and mandate that federal contractors implement Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs) that guarantee equal employment opportunities for covered classes.[2] Pursuant to 41 CFR § 60-2.10, “an affirmati ..read more

President Biden’s long-awaited Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was passed by Congress and signed into law in November 2021. While the new law brings about new sources of revenue and opportunities for contractors, particularly those involved in complex construction projects such as roads, bridge and tunnels, traditional and renewable energy, drinking and wastewater delivery, and information technology infrastructure, these new sources of revenue are likely to come with strings attached. With the creation of the Made in America Office, whose purpose will be to monitor contractors’ complia ..read more

The Department of Defense (DoD) recently announced it will be revamping the nascent Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program pending two separate rulemaking processes.  As detailed below, the DoD will be updating “the program structure and the requirements to streamline and improve implementation of the CMMC program.”  We will be monitoring the rulemaking process for more details as they are known.  However, the primary short-term takeaway is that until the rulemaking process is complete, the DoD is suspending the CMMC Pilot Program and will not include CMM ..read more

On May 12. 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order aimed at improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity by curtailing data breaches and malicious cyber campaigns. The Order comes in response to a number of recent cybersecurity incidents, including a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline Co. that caused a temporary shutdown, resulting in gas shortages along the Eastern Seaboard and a nationwide spike in fuel prices. The Order seeks to establish a partnership between the Federal Government and the private sector to ensure a more secure cyber environment, creating a Cyber Safety Review ..read more

On March 31, 2021 President Biden unveiled his American Jobs Plan in the form of two massive spending and tax proposals. Policy makers in Washington are actively debating and preparing to legislate based on these proposals. The first proposal, totaling $2.3 trillion, is focused on traditional infrastructure improvements, broadly defined, and includes highways, bridges, ports, airports, and transit; broadband; clean water; electric-grid upgrades; upgrades to residential, commercial, school, and federal buildings; investments in the care economy to raise wages and expand services; and investment ..read more

The Paycheck Protection Loan program created by the CARES Act thrust the U.S. Small Business Administration’s complicated size standards into the spotlight for many companies that never before waded into those muddy waters.  None of SBA’s rules frustrated businesses that otherwise thought they were “small” more than the rule of “affiliation”, which requires concerns, when determining size, to include the size of other entities under common control.  A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is a timely reminder that the concept of “affiliation”, in the context of federal ..read more

On January 25, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order, titled "Executive Order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers," aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing and increasing transparency in procurement for federal contracts. While the exemption for information technology as a commercial item remains untouched – though to be studied – and while the Order does not modify the rules for acquisitions subject to the Trade Agreements Act, the Order may yet have a significant impact on contractors. President Biden’s Order revokes several prior ..read more

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Moving America Forward Act (H.R. 2). Its purpose is to invest in American infrastructure and to create jobs in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. As of this posting the bill is now in the Senate.  The President has expressed opposition to the bill’s passage, despite general statements of support for rebuilding America’s infrastructure. If it passes in the Senate and is signed into law by the President, the Act could result in the investment of more than $1.5 trillion in: (1) rebuilding highways, bridges, transit and rail faciliti ..read more

The Alston & Bird Government Contracts team has been closely following developments in the implementation of Section 889 of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), and particularly Section 889 Part B, which broadly prohibits the government from “entering into a contract with” an entity that “uses” “covered telecommunications equipment or services.”  Our prior blog posts on this topic can be found here and here. On August 6, 2020, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) gave notice that the previously scheduled August 12, 2020 GSA webinar [...]Read more Th ..read more