C. Peter Dungan

Yogi Berra once said, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” Those who have spent a career in federal procurement have seen many cycles of well-intentioned procurement reform instead create a system that is more complex, arcane and inefficient with each iteration.  Any long-serving procurement professional has a bookshelf of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) volumes that visibly get thicker with each issue; the current copies are more than twice as thick as the

On September 24, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors (the “Guidance”). This highly anticipated Guidance outlines the Covid-19 protocols for government contractors that were announced on September 9 in Executive Order 14042 (Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors) (“Order”), which was covered in a recent M&S Industry Alert. These new protocols will be enforced through a contract clause that must be included in all

Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted on March 27, 2020, provides the possibility of welcome financial relief for many federal contractors struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject to certain prerequisites and constraints, Section 3610 permits agencies to reimburse, at “the minimum applicable billing rate not to exceed an average of 40 hours per week any paid leave, including sick leave, a contractor provides to keep its employees in a ready

On January 15, 2019, the Section 809 Panel released the third and final volume of its report to Congress recommending changes to the defense procurement system. The latest volume makes the Panel’s most sweeping recommendations, including recommendations on reforming the bid protest process for defense procurements. This Alert describes the changes to bid protests envisioned by the Panel’s report, their potential impact, and prospects for adoption. What is the Section 809 Panel? The Section 809 Panel is named for the section of

Electronic filing of bid protests and the $350 filing fee are finally here. On Monday, April 2, 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a final rule implementing two key changes to the bid protest process that have been anticipated for several months. First, mandatory electronic filing of protests through the new Electronic Protest Docketing System (EPDS) is effective May 1, 2018. Second, as part of implementing EPDS, GAO is implementing a mandatory $350 filing fee to pay for the costs of

Enhanced debriefings are finally here.  On March 22, 2018, Shay Assad, the DoD Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, issued a DoD-wide policy directive that, effective immediately, DoD is offering “enhanced postaward debriefings” to unsuccessful offerors.  Def. Acquisition Reg. Sys. Memo. No. 2018-O0011 (Mar. 22, 2018).  Mr. Assad’s policy directive, issued as a class deviation to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, gives practical effect to Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.  Accordingly, an unsuccessful offeror to

Congress’s use of stopgap measures – Continuing Resolutions – to fund the Government create the potential for shutdown of the Government if a Continuing Resolution expires without another funding measure in place. When the Government shuts down, the Government offices which rely upon appropriated funds execute their “orderly” shutdown plans, and the affected Government employees who are not considered excepted (a.k.a. “essential”) will be furloughed. To prepare for such a shutdown, Contractors should take action (before contracting officers leave for