Skyway Wire
US Court of Federal Claims Case – Contractor Won’t Get Paid for Work Done without Proper Authorization
It has always been an issue with the Federal Government of what a CO must do if a contractor performs work based on the direction of a government employee who does not have authorization to direct...
Protest Because Agency Evaluated Proposals Unequally
The GAO’s decision in SURVICE Engineering Company, LLC, B-414519 (July 5, 2o17) involved an Air Force solicitation for engineering, program management, and administrative services at Eglin Air Force...
U.S. Navy Admiral Sentenced to Prison for Lying to Federal Investigators
U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert Gilbeau was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for lying to investigators to conceal his illicit 20-year relationship with Leonard Glenn Francis, the owner of Glenn...
Does Kingdomware Affect SDVOSB Recertification Requirements?
In their recent decision in Redhorse Corporation, SBA No. VET-263 (2017), SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) found that the Supreme Court’s Kingdomware decision does not affect the SBA’s...
US Court of Federal Claims calls an agency’s conduct an “Egregious Example of Intransigence and Deception”
Most GAO and US Court of Federal Claims protest decisions are pretty dry and not very interesting to read. But every once in a while, they get pretty colorful in their opinions. Starry Associates,...
August 2017 Federal Contracting Tidbits
Class Deviation 2017-O0006, Increased Micro-Purchased Threshold. DOD issued a memo implementing a class deviation that increases the micro-purchase threshold to $5,000 for DoD procurements and to...
What Constitutes a “Joint Employer”?
There have been a couple of recent cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit (covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina) that provide the “test” (in...
Dem’s the Rules
Contracting with the federal government can be very complex and frustrating as many of you know. As a contracting officer for over 30 years, I have done tens of thousands of contract actions. ...
Termination for Default
I recently penned an article about Terminations for Convenience, or T4C, which can seem very arbitrary or capricious at times, even to those of us that know the reasons behind such decisions. So, I...
What Are 5 Questions You Should NOT Ask When You Meet With A Small Business Specialist?
While I was not a Small Business Specialist during my Government career, I was the Technical Industrial Liaison Officer (TILO) for the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) for a couple of years...
Can I Win Enough Government Business to Justify my Investment?
When I first read this topic, I thought, “Wow! That’s a really hard question to answer! There are so many variables that affect a company’s ability to win a contract, let alone “enough” government...
Termination for Convenience
This story provides a good example of how arbitrary and capricious the Government can be. I was serving in Afghanistan as the Chief of Contracting on one of the major bases in Helmand Province. It...
Finding the Right Point of Contact – Part 2
When you are getting ready to sell your product or service to a government agency, finding the right person to talk to, and knowing what’s important to that individual and what is not, can be...
Finding the Right Point of Contact – Part 1
When you are getting ready to sell your product or service to a government agency, finding the right person to talk to, and knowing what’s important to that individual and what is not, can be...
The Battle against Counterfeit Materials
Over my 30 years of work for the DoD, the battle over counterfeit material has been constant and has real consequences for the military. The big defense contractors have to constantly maintain...
Requests for Equitable Adjustment
During the performance of Government contracts, a contractor may encounter many circumstances that lead them to submit a Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA). Examples include undisclosed site...