What Does the Buy American Executive Order Change?
Apr 30, 2017
The National Law Review breaks down the President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” executive order. The article notes that the order doesn’t necessarily create new initiatives, but rather requires agencies to follow the law that’s already on the books. Part of that is...
Thornberry Readies More Acquisition Reforms
Apr 30, 2017
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX)—the House Armed Services Committee chair—said he’s putting the finishing touches on legislation to further reform defense acquisition. This would be the third piece of reform Thornberry has introduced in his time as chair. “I’ve got on my desk a final version of...
Eight Trends in Federal Contracting
Apr 30, 2017
Bloomberg Government’s Kevin Brancato, director of government contracts research, discussed eight trends in federal contracting he sees continuing to grow in the near futures. Some of those were initiatives kicked off by the Obama administration, including an emphasis on category management,...
Maine Considers Unique Bill for Solar Procurement
Apr 30, 2017
JD Supra looks at an interesting bill in Maine, which would change the way the state procures solar energy. The legislature is currently considering a bill that would direct state regulators to enter into long-term contracts to buy large-scale community solar. The utilities commission would issue a...
New York Procurement Reform Bill Heads to the Legislature
Apr 28, 2017
While some have voiced concern that a bill to reform New York State’s procurement was not included in the proposed budget, a bill has now made it out of the State Senate Finance Committee. The bill would restore oversight powers to the state comptroller’s office, something the current...
House Hearing Looks at Speeding DoD’s IT Acquisition
Apr 28, 2017
A hearing of the House Armed Services Committee Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee looked at how the Department of Defense (DoD) could be more agile and flexible in its approach to information technology (IT) acquisition. “Despite attempts like the Joint Information Environment and...
Kansas City Brings in Startups with Innovation Program
Apr 28, 2017
Kansas City, Missouri’s Innovation Partnership Program is now in its third year, helping bring in entrepreneurs and startups to help solve some of the city’s challenges. According to the story,:”The program offers startups and other businesses direct access to develop, test and demonstrate...
Lieutenant Colonel in Army Reserves Found Guilty for Violating the Buy American Act
Apr 28, 2017
A federal jury on Tuesday convicted Frederick Burnett, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, of fraudulently representing that the “hundreds of thousands” of baseball caps and backpacks he supplied to the Army Recruiting Command were made in the U.S., when they were made in China....
GAO Sustains Protest over Potential Conflict of Interest
Apr 28, 2017
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has sustained the protest of A-P-T Research, Inc., which argued that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) failed to properly consider a potential organizational conflict of interest (OCI), and raised questions about the agency’s cost...
“Business as Usual” Is Risky for Procurement
Apr 28, 2017
Representatives of 91 cities attended Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities (WWC) summit earlier this month, where procurement was a topic of discussion. The conversation centered on how it’s actually more risky for procurement to follow the status quo, rather than to try new things, and...
Obamacare Payments Now Seen as Obstacle to Budget Deal
Apr 27, 2017
President Donald Trump has reportedly said he would allow a budget deal to proceed without funding for the border wall, though new roadblocks have emerged. Funding the wall had been a sticking point in negotiations to avoid a shutdown, but reports yesterday said the president is willing to wait...
Border Wall a Sticking Point in Budget Talks
Apr 25, 2017
President Donald Trump and members of his administration spoke yesterday about the importance of building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. The president tweeted that the wall was imperative for stopping the entrance of drugs into the country. Funding for the wall is a sticking point in...
Perspectives and Insights
I have been interested in the question of getting successful commercial companies, especially tech companies, to sell to the government from the time I was …
The Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2017 (S. 651), introduced by Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., is yet another example of a …
Think you know all about public sector owned professional buying organisations (PBOs) and what they do? Here are ten interesting facts that might just surprise …
Policies and Regulations
It’s no surprise President Trump has been systematically dismantling President Obama’s executive orders, since taking office. Obama himself knew it was a possibility: Frustrated by …
Past performance is an important step in being successful as a federal government contractor. Once firms get into the mid-tier range, they normally have amassed …
A few months back, we published several articles about the very interesting – and somewhat shocking – court case around the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning …