SmallGovCon Week In Review: April 10-14, 2017

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on the West Coast lately: I started the week in San Diego as a speaker at the APTAC’s Spring 2017 Training Conference and after a few days in the office will be heading back on the road to present at the 2017 SAME Small Business Symposium in Bremerton, WA. If you will be attending please come say hello!

Before I head back West, it’s time for our weekly look at comings and goings in the world of federal government contracting.  In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, a business owner pleads guilty to defrauding more than 1,000 would-be contractors in a sleazy registration scheme, the GSA’s Alliant 2 unrestricted contract is moving forward, a government official goes on the record as stating that some contractors are “kicking butt,” and much more.

  • Government agencies are paying out millions of dollars to contractors that violate federal labor laws, says government watchdog. [FederalTimes]
  • The GSA’s Transactional Data Reporting program is supposed to eliminate the need for contractor-supplied price and discounting information but there is widespread anecdotal evidence to show that this is not happening. [Federal News Radio]
  • More GSA news: the Assisted Acquisition Services has found itself moving away from IT and into professional services. [Federal News Radio]
  • A national counterintelligence chief gave a pat on the to the contractors who are “kicking butt” in helping agencies head off insider threats. [Government Executive]
  • DHS’s acquisition processes are improving, according to a new GAO audit. [Nextgov]
  • The Alliant 2 unrestricted acquisition is moving forward: GSA has reached the source selection phase and will soon be contacting bidders to verify certain information. [FederalTimes]
  • A sleazy “government contracts registration” scheme has resulted in a guilty plea from a defendant accused of defrauding more than 1,000 would-be contractors. [United States Department of Justice]
  • A small-business advocate has won a day in court with Pentagon attorneys to argue whether the DOD should release internal documents that the plaintiff argues will reveal a government bias against small defense contractors. [Government Executive]