TWIG-C™ – February 23, 2026

Feb 23, 2026 | TWIG-C™

GOVCON INSIGHTS AND INFORMATION:

Department of War Seeks Industry Input for FAR Overhaul Phase 2 – The Department of War has released a letter to the defense industrial base and acquisition stakeholders, requesting input on phase two of its Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR, Overhaul initiative aimed at reducing regulatory burden and accelerating defense procurement.

Reflections on GSA’s value-added reseller RFI (part 2) – This week, the Coalition for Common Sense in Government Procurement submitted comments in response to the General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) Request for Information (RFI), “MAS Valued Added Reseller Pricing – Market Research.” The RFI largely reflects GSA’s interest in better understanding the commercial supply chain, which is a positive step in ensuring the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program provides robust and expanding access to the commercial market. Effective communication between government and industry regarding commercial best practices is consistent with the Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul’s (RFO) focus on increasing access to the competitive commercial market to meet agency mission requirements.

SBA Strikes Again: New 8(a) Program Suspensions Related to Economic Disadvantage Criteria – On February 11, 2026, the U.S. Small Business Administration issued a press release announcing that it was initiating termination proceedings and suspending over 150 Washington, D.C.-based 8(a) firms for allegedly failing to meet “economic disadvantage” eligibility criteria for the 8(a) Program. This is a bold move as traditionally proposed terminations are not also coupled with suspensions. And while the press release asserts that these firms “exceeded statutory net worth limits, adjusted gross income caps, or total asset limits,” the notice these firms received suggests that these firms “may” no longer be eligible. Contractors are entitled to respond and explain why the proposed grounds do not justify termination. Understanding the regulations and calculations is critical. SBA’s move to propose termination while simultaneously suspending 8(a) firms based on the program’s economic disadvantage criteria shows SBA’s continued scrutiny of the 8(a) Program and the need for 8(a) firms to understand and maintain eligibility compliance.

PilieroMazza Annual Review: DOJ’s FY2025 False Claims Act Results and Compliance Considerations for Government Contractors in FY2026 – The Department of Justice (DOJ) released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 False Claims Act (FCA) results, and the message for government contractors is clear: FCA enforcement is accelerating, and procurement fraud, cybersecurity non-compliance, pandemic program fraud, and tariff/custom duty evasion remain key priorities. DOJ reported total FCA settlements and judgments of more than $6.8 Billion for FY2025, the largest annual recovery in FCA history. Below are key takeaways from DOJ’s annual fraud statistics report, our outlook for FY2026, and important compliance considerations for government contractors. For more information on this topic, visit this link to register for our webinar, “PilieroMazza Annual Review: FCA Enforcement and Compliance Updates for Government Contractors—What to Watch in 2026.”

Beware the “Hallmarks” of AI: Recent GAO Decision Provides Cautionary Tale for Protesters – For better or worse, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the legal industry. The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recently decided Bramstedt Surgical Inc.[1], dedicating three pages to warnings about penalties it could have imposed on the protester and protester’s counsel for incorrect citations. For those tracking GAO’s recent handling of protesters and lawyers who file documents that appear to be riddled with AI-hallucinated citations or legal arguments citing to cases that do not stand for the premise alluded to, the decision comes as no surprise. Nevertheless, the Bramstedt decision serves as a stark reminder that while AI can be a useful tool, it can also create serious professional and legal exposure when used without proper oversight.

Bloomberg Government: Cy Alba Warns DOD’s Direct OEM Buying Trend Could Raise Costs and Undermine ITVAR Competition – A recent report by Bloomberg Government highlights a major shift in federal IT procurement: billions of dollars in work are moving from IT value-added resellers (ITVARs) and integrators to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) under new Department of Defense acquisition strategies. In the article, PilieroMazza Partner Isaias “Cy” Alba cautions that this trend could carry significant consequences for pricing, competition, and long-term government value. “Increased use of direct acquisition from OEMs shows a misunderstanding by the government of the role of IT VARs,” Alba told Bloomberg Government. “Instead of having competition where many VARs take on cost and pricing risks to win competitive contracts, these OEMs will act as a monopoly to raise prices for the government.” Excerpt taken from the article “Billion-Dollar IT Work Flows from Resellers Back to Tech Firm” by Paul Murphy for Bloomberg Government. Visit this link to view the full article.

Congressional report recommends ‘FedRAMP’ for commercial data brokers –
Amid persistent concerns about how agencies make use of data brokers, a new congressionally chartered report recommends setting up an authorization framework to regulate the federal government’s use of commercially available information.
Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) this week released a new report on modernizing the Privacy Act of 1974. The 68-page document features a range of proposals to update the 52-year-old law. Trahan’s report has garnered attention for addressing Privacy Act vulnerabilities allegedly exploited in high-profile instances by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel over the last year. But the report’s recommendations go beyond DOGE’s activities and take on several longstanding issues, including how federal agencies use data about Americans that can be purchased through private brokers.

Five companies protest exclusion from NASA’s $60B SEWP VI competition – NASA has not announced any winners of the $60 billion SEWP VI vehicles, but the agency apparently is letting some companies know they will not get a spot on the 10-year IT product contract.
Five companies have filed protests at the Government Accountability Office, challenging NASA’s decision to eliminate them from consideration during phase one of the evaluation process.

Sending Out An SOS for the LOS – The limitations on subcontracting, or LOS, is a fundamental requirement of set-aside contracting. Historically, however, the LOS has not received as much attention as other set-aside compliance obligations that are more regularly the focus of audits, enforcement actions, and protests. But that changed with recent high-profile audits by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Department of War (DOW) that are putting a spotlight on LOS compliance. In particular, a DOW memorandum issued in January 2026 shows it is investigating LOS compliance on set-aside contracts valued greater than $20 Million. DOW’s goal is to identify “improper subcontracting practices” and their audits are underway, with an expected completion date by the end of February 2026. Given this climate, small business contractors—and especially those working with DOW—need to ensure they understand the LOS and take reasonable steps to ensure compliance.

OPPORTUNITIES:

CMS RFI: AI Tools for Medicare Experience Modernization.
DEA RFI: Scalable Cloud-Based Lawful Intercept Platform.
DAF RFI: Flying Training Analysis Modeling and Support.
DOD RFP: Pentagon seeks AI to modernize administrative workloads. See: JETMS RFP.
TSA RFI: Trusted Ops, Maintenance, Cybersecurity, Assurance, Technology.
CBP RFI: Services to Electronically Transmit Airline Data.
AFRL RFI: National Research Network: Comms, Network Entry Solutions.
USAF RFI: Space Domain Awareness.
DHA RFI: Financial Planning and Analysis.
DHS RFI: Network Operations Security Center (NOSC) Network, Cloud, and Cyber Services (NCCS) 2.0.

FAR Updates to Align with eSRS Decommissioning:

GSA will decommission the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS.gov) on February 20, 2026, moving subcontracting reporting to SAM.gov, as part of the ongoing effort to modernize the suite of federal acquisition systems.
To align with this change, the FAR Council has amended the FAR part 19 model deviation text.

For more information, check out—

The updated FAR part 19 model deviation text on the FAR Overhaul page on Acquisition.gov.
The updated FAR part 19 Practitioner Album on the FAR Overhaul page on Acquisition.gov reflecting the Line-in Line-out changes.
GSA’s implementing deviation supplement to read more background information, a high-level summary of changes, and instructions for the GSA acquisition workforce. Other agencies are expected to issue similar implementing deviations for their acquisition workforce.

To view all available rewritten FAR Parts and agency deviations, visit: https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide.

BID PROTEST DECISIONS:

B-423796.2, Morrish-Wallace Construction d/b/a Ryba Marine Construction Co., February 5, 2026

https://www.gao.gov/products/B-423796.2

Moorish-Wallace Construction Co. d/b/a Ryba Construction Co., of Cheboygan, Michigan, protests the award of a contract to E.C. Korneffel Co., of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, under invitation for bids (IFB) No. W911XK25BA024, issued by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers (Corps) for construction services. Ryba argues that the agency unreasonably determined that Korneffel’s failure to acknowledge an amendment was a minor informality. GAO sustained the protest.

FREE TRAINING:

Upcoming Presentations from PilieroMazza:

PM WEBINAR: DCAA’s Annual Update, February 24, 2026, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV

CONFERENCE: Build Your Dream Advisory Team, February 25, 2026, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV

CONFERENCE: Managing the Financial Impact of Tariffs on Your Government Contracts, March 4, 2026, Jacqueline K. Unger, Ryan Boonstra

SEMINAR: Government Contractors and Tariff Challenges: Strategies for Success, March 11, 2026, Jacqueline K. Unger

CONFERENCE: Federal Small Business Update — Threats and Opportunities in the Current Environment, March 12, 2026, Lauren Brier

TRAINING: Labor Rules & Regulations: Federal Market Compliance, March 18, 2026, Sarah L. Nash

CONFERENCE: Ins and Outs of the Service Contract Act, March 23, 2026, Nichole D. Atallah

CONFERENCE: DMV Legal Compliance Toolkit: Practical Insights for Multi-Jurisdictional Employers, March 24, 2026, Sarah L. Nash

CONFERENCE: You’re Fired! Legal Risks of Personnel Management for Tribally Owned Entities, March 25, 2026, Nichole D. Atallah

CONFERENCE: Plan Your Exit Strategy and Adjust Along the Way, February 25, 2026, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV