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Defense Department

July 2021

New Guidance on Domestic Sourcing Waivers

By Anna Menzel , Evan R. Sherwood and Michael Wagner
On June 11, the White House released new guidance on its plans to limit waivers of domestic sourcing laws, bolstering its previously issued “Executive Order on Ensuring the Future is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers.”
Cybersecurity

July 2021

Biden Signs Order to Bolster Cybersecurity

By Susan B. Cassidy , Trisha Anderson , Micaela McMurrough , Robert Huffman and Tyler Holbrook
On May 12, President Joe Biden issued the “Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.”
Defense Contracting

May 2021

Prepare Now for the $15 Minimum Wage

By Andrew Guy , Nooree Lee and Anna Menzel
In April, President Joe Biden signed an “Executive Order on Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors” that will raise the hourly minimum wage for federal contractors to $15, effective Jan. 30, 2022.
Global Defense Market

May 2021

U.S. Senators Propose Trade-Pact Waivers

By Jennifer Plitsch , Sarah Shepson and Carl Wiersum
The recently enacted American Rescue Plan includes $1.9 trillion in economic stimulus, health care and related funding, while President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan proposal includes $2.3 trillion in critical infrastructure investments.
Defense Department

April 2021

Biden Directs Broad Review of Supply Chains

By Trisha Anderson , Susan B. Cassidy and Samantha L. Clark
President Joe Biden on Feb. 24 signed a far-reaching “Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains.”
Cybersecurity

February 2021

Expect More False Claims Act Cybersecurity Cases

By Susan Cassidy , Peter Hutt II and Michael Wagner
In the federal contracting community, it has long been predicted that the government’s increased cybersecurity requirements will eventually lead to a corresponding increase in False Claims Act litigation involving cybersecurity compliance.
Contracting

January 2021

Procurement Collusion Strike Force Gets a Boost

By Ross Demain , Mike Pierce and Michael Wagner
Just over a year after launching the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division announced new measures to further its pursuit of antitrust and related schemes in government procurement, grant and program funding. These changes expand the strike force’s enforcement capacity and signal the department’s enduring — and intensifying — commitment to its mission.
Government Contracting Insights

December 2020

Parsing the Meaning of Performance Risk Scores

By Ryan Burnette , Susan Cassidy and Darby Rourick
On Sept. 29, the Defense Department released an interim rule on addressing its increased requirements for assessing whether contractors are compliant with the 110 security controls in National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171. Contractors could be affected by how the Pentagon uses the assessment scores to evaluate supplier performance risks.
Defense Contracting

October 2020

Defense Contractors Could Fall Under Trump ‘Divisive Concepts’ Executive Order

By Lindsay Burke , Jennifer Plitsch and Carolyn Rashby
On Sept. 22, President Donald Trump issued the “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping” establishing requirements aimed at “promoting unity in the federal workforce,” by prohibiting workplace training on “divisive concepts,” including “race or sex stereotyping” and “race or sex scapegoating” as newly-defined in the order.
Defense Contracting

October 2020

Showdown Looms on Cost Accounting Standards

By Peter Hutt II and Peter Terenzio
The Federal Circuit’s decision in The Boeing Company v. United States clears the way for resolution of Boeing’s substantive challenge to a controversial Federal Acquisition Regulation provision that can give the government windfall recoveries in Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) matters.