TWIGC – June 2, 2025

Jun 2, 2025 | TWIGC

This Week in Government Contracting (TWIGC)©

OPPORTUNITIES:

USN RFP: MARCENT OAMS IDIQ.

NATO RFI: Enterprise Internet and Cloud Access Services.

DOI RFI: Geospatial Support Services.

NGA RFI: GEOINT Learning through Academic Programs II (GLAP II).

DHA RFI: TRICARE Medicare Eligible Program Second Generation.

GSA RFI: Charge Card and Commercial Payments.

Navy RFI: Cyber Operational Test & Evaluation OPTEVFOR.

MDA RFI: SHIELD Multiple Award IDIQ.

Army RFI: Problem Statement for MOSA in support of NGC2.

WHS Sources Sought: OUSDI&S R&E ERMD Support Services.

DHA RFI: Domain & Directory Services (DDSB) IT Services.

NASA RFI: Earth-Proximity Space-Relay Comms & Navigation Services.

GOVCON INSIGHTS:

Department of Veterans Affairs acquisition reform legislation – On May 21, 2025, the United States Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a legislative hearing which included consideration of S. 1591, the Acquisition Reform and Cost Assessment Act of 2025. We were honored to be asked by Chairman Jerry Moran to provide a statement for the record discussing the proposed legislation concerning Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) procurement. We stand ready to assist the legislative and executive branches in their efforts to efficiently and effectively provide our veterans best value products and services, including healthcare. Two of the most important aspects of the proposed legislation would be the consolidation of procurement management under an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs and other transaction authority (OTA) for the VA.

SBA says DEI executive order does not apply to Native American programs – The U.S. Small Business Administration confirmed Tuesday that a Trump administration executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs does not affect services provided to American Indians and Alaska Natives, joining other federal agencies in clarifying that Native programs remain protected. SBA General Counsel Wendell Davis issued a note May 20 to Chief of Staff Wesley Coopersmith stating that the “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” executive order does not apply to SBA programs serving Native Americans. The clarification came in response to a request from the Native American Contractors Association. NACA had raised the issue during a February fly-in where SBA leadership met with Native-owned businesses to discuss federal contracting issues, according to the nonprofit’s executive director, Quinton Carroll. President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14151 on January 20, directing federal agencies to terminate DEI programs, including those related to environmental justice and accessibility.

Hegseth cracks down on Pentagon use of IT consulting contracts – The Pentagon is cracking down on IT consulting and management services contracts as it seeks to reduce reliance on outside firms and increase its in-house capabilities. In a May 27 memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed Pentagon leadership, combatant commanders and DoD agency and field activity directors not to execute new IT consulting or management services contracts or task orders with integrators or consultants unless they first justify that the work cannot be performed in-house or acquired directly from a service provider.

Executive Order 14271 – Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts – Implementation Guidance – On April 15, 2025, the President issued Executive Order (EO) 14271 entitled, “Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts.” The EO requires agencies to “procure commercially available products and services, including those that can be modified to fill agencies’ needs, to the maximum extent practicable, including pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–355, as amended) (FASA).”

Trump administration moves to upend $37B affirmative action program – The Trump administration moved Wednesday to dismantle one of the federal government’s largest and longest-standing affirmative action programs, siding with two White-owned contracting businesses that challenged its constitutionality. In a motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Justice Department said that a Transportation Department program that has carved out an estimated $37 billion for minority- and women-owned businesses violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution. If a judge approves the proposed settlement, the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program (DBE) will be prohibited from awarding contracts based on race and sex, effectively ending its founding mission.

DBE Program in Peril: Recent Legal Challenges and What They Mean for Women- and Minority-Owned Contractors – Recent legal challenges jeopardize the future of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, a long-standing initiative designed to support minority- and women-owned businesses in federally funded state and local transportation infrastructure projects. In litigation against the DOT filed in October 2023, two non-DBE firms challenged the constitutionality of the program’s use of race- and sex-based presumptions of social and economic disadvantage to determine DBE eligibility. In the latest setback for the program, on May 28, 2025, the DOT sided with the plaintiffs in filing a joint motion seeking to resolve the case by having the court issue a permanent injunction on the program’s use of the presumption, stipulating that the presumption is unconstitutional.

Using artificial intelligence to reduce DoD’s procurement timelines – Commercial firms are already using AI to simplify procurement. While bringing that approach into DoD offers great promise, there are also some significant obstacles. A new paper from the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies Institute offers some specific recommendations for balancing risks and benefits.

BID PROTEST DECISIONS:

Digital Force Technologies, Inc., B-423319 May 19, 2025
Digital Force Technologies, Inc. (Digital Force), of San Diego, California, protests the issuance of Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR) phase III sole-source solicitation No. FA2381-25-R-B004, to Clear Align, LLC, of Nashua, New Hampshire, by the Department of the Air Force. Digital Force contends that the SBIR phase III solicitation was improperly issued to Clear Align and that the agency is required to issue a competitive solicitation for its requirement. GAO denied the protest.

Upcoming Government Contract Presentations (from PilieroMazza):

WEBINAR: Small Business Contracting and Subcontracting, June 4, 2025, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV

WEBINAR: Nuts, Bolts, and Beyond: To Be a Government Contractor, June 5, 2025, Eric Valle

CONFERENCE: Staying 8(a) Eligible: Navigating Compliance Amid Rising Scrutiny, June 9, 2025, Peter B. Ford

WEBINAR: Managing the Financial Impact of Tariffs on Your Government Contract, June 17, 2025, Jacqueline K. Unger, Ryan Boonstra

WEBINAR: Legal Strategies & Capture Planning, June 20, 2025, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV

WEBINAR: Avoiding Common Teaming and Subcontracting Pitfalls, June 25, 2025, Jon Williams

WEBINAR: The Buy American Act and Trade Agreements Act: What Government Contractors Need to Know, June 26, 2025, Jacqueline K. Unger, Abigail “Abby” Finan

WEBINAR: Labor Regulations, June 3, 2025, Nichole D. Atallah

TRAINING: Labor Rules & Regulations: Federal Market Compliance, June 11, 2025, Nichole D. Atallah

TRAINING: Labor Rules & Regulations: Federal Market Compliance, June 25, 2025, Sarah L. Nash

PM WEBINAR: Multijurisdictional Employers, Part 2: 2025 State-by-State Updates on Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation Agreements, July 1, 2025, Sarah L. Nash, Zachary S. Stinson