Alston & Bird Government Contracts Blog

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)

DOJ Antitrust “Strike Force” Will Crack Down on Collusive Bidding and Procurement Fraud

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On November 5, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the formation of a new Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) to prosecute collusive bidding and procurement fraud in government contracting. According to Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, the PCSF “will target bid-rigging and other antitrust crimes that can cost American taxpayers billions of dollars each year by undermining the federal government’s processes for purchasing goods and services and for money granted to states and municipalities to undertake large, high-dollar-figure public improvement projects.” The PCSF will [...]Read more

Women-Owned Small Businesses and Sole Source Contracts

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President Obama’s administration has made it a priority to meet the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) prime and subcontracting goals, which include metrics relating to the percentage of government contracts awarded to small businesses, women-owned small businesses (WOSB), small disadvantaged businesses, service disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and historically underutilized business zones. Although in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 government agencies met or exceeded their prime contracting goals for small businesses in general, they did not achieve their goals for WOSBs. One way to [...]Read more

A Summary of the Department of Justice’s 2015 False Claims Act Review

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The False Claims Act (FCA) again proved itself to be the government’s primary tool to combat procurement fraud. According to the Department of Justice, in 2015 alone, the government recovered more than $3.5 billion from FCA settlements and judgments for the fourth year in a row, bringing the total recovery since January 2009 to $26.4 billion. Of the $3.5 billion recovered last year, roughly $1.1 billion came from settlements and judgments in cases alleging false claims for payment under government contracts, raising the total recovery for government contracts and procurement fraud settlements [...]Read more

Proposed Rule Requires Prime Contractor to Report Late or Reduced Payments to Small Business Subcontractors

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On January 20, 2016, the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and NASA issued a proposed rule to amend the FAR and implement a section of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. This proposed rule, which will implement Section 1334 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) implementation of Section 1334, requires that, among other things, a prime contractor (1) notify the contracting officer, in writing, if the contractor makes a reduced or untimely payment to a small business subcontractor; and (2) disclose the reasons for the reduced [...]Read more

Federal Agencies Cannot Immunize Themselves with Short Termination Windows in Contracts

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In Springfield Parcel C, LLC v. United States, 124 Fed. Cl. 163 (Ct. Fed. Cl. 2015), the U.S. Court of Federal Claims considered the post-award protest of a contract by an unsuccessful offeror. The unsuccessful offeror was protesting the award of a real estate contract to lease new headquarters for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) offered by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The protestor, Springfield Parcel C, LLC, sought an injunction of the award to Eisenhower Real Estate Holdings, LLC, on the basis that the GSA’s award was unlawful. Springfield, Eisenhower, and [...]Read more