SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 15-19, 2025

Posted on December 19, 2025 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday, readers! We know this time of year gets hectic, with all the preparations and lists to check. One thing you don’t have to check is the updates on federal government contracting for the past week. We’ve done that in our Week in Review! Enjoy the latest updates while you do some last-minute shopping and decorating.

This week in federal government contracting saw important updates on use of AI, predictions for 2026, and a deadline to submit feedback on the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul.

Five Tips for Surviving the End-of-Year 8(a) Program Audit

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Nicole Pottroff

If you got an aggressive email from the SBA earlier this month requesting an awful lot of documentation and information in relation to your 8(a) Program participation—you are far from alone. SBA actually sent this December 5^th email to about 4300 current and past 8(a) Program participants. And if you too found yourself reading and rereading SBA’s specific requests trying to determine exactly what the SBA is looking for—but to no avail—you are again far from alone. Now, we at SmallGovCon don’t have all the answers or any insider knowledge. But we offer you these five tips for surviving the 8(a) audit—based on our vast experience with the fundamentals of legal language interpretation and our expertise with the 8(a) Program regulations and standard operating procedures.

2025 GAO Bid Protest Report: Numbers Down, Effectiveness Still Even Odds–COFC Shows Increase in Bid Protests

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Shane McCall

In just a few days the ball will drop on 2025 and we will officially usher in the new year. It’s always a good time for reflecting on the past year and what lies ahead for the new year. And that same sort of review is important when thinking about federal contract bid protests. With that in mind, we are going to take a look at the GAO’s Bid Protest Annual Report. This report is GAO’s summary of bid protests for the previous fiscal year. It contains some important insights for how GAO bid protest numbers have changed from prior years. But as our readers know, many bid protests are filed at the Court of Federal Claims, so this is only one part of the overall bid protest picture.

Here are some key points from this year:

The key effectiveness metric, showing numbers of sustains and corrective actions at GAO, was similar to prior years, and exactly the same as 2024, at 52% for the 2025 fiscal year.
Total bid protest numbers were down for the second year in a row, coming in at 1688 new cases filed (a 6% decrease from the prior fiscal year).

Below, we dive into the GAO numbers while comparing to the data we have on COFC protests.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 8-12, 2025

Posted on December 12, 2025 by Shane McCall

It’s time for another edition of the SmallGovCon week in review. We hope that all of our readers had a productive week. For many (myself included), this week is the time for holiday concerts and performances, including the fabled Nutcracker performance. The Lawrence Arts Center does a Kansas-themed performance that is well-loved by all who watch. There is a grand holiday party and then a dream sequence that takes up the latter part of the ballet. I imagine some 8(a) contractors are wishing the current actions taken against them were also part of a dream sequence. Alas, they are not and those businesses should do their best to respond to all 8(a) inquiries as much as they can.

This week saw some big updates on the 8(a) front, with both SBA and Congress putting pressure on 8(a) contractors, as well as additional calls for centralization and shared services.

Back to Basics: Covenant Against Contingent Fees

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Annie Birney

Federal contractors are generally familiar with the many FAR provisions listed in a solicitation or contract. So, it can be tempting to simply gloss over these pages of the solicitation, absentmindedly checking off the right box or signing off on the required representations without familiarizing yourself with each provision–or the consequences that come if each is violated. But naturally, we don’t recommend a cursory review. And one important FAR provision contractors should definitely familiarize themselves with is the Covenant Against Contingent Fees (FAR 52.203-5)–as the consequences of violating that one can be rather grave.

BREAKING: SBA Launches an End of Year 8(a) Program Audit

Posted on December 8, 2025 by Gregory Weber

8(a) Program participants received an early holiday surprise from the SBA’s 8(a) Program this past week. A mass request was sent out to 8(a) Program participants and some graduates requesting extensive (mostly financial) internal documentation so that the SBA could audit the program for any potential fraud, waste, or abuse. While the need to protect taxpayer funds and the 8(a) Program are fundamentally important, such a sudden wide ranging document request came as a surprise to many across federal contracting. The SBA’s explanation provided some insight for this broad request.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 1-5, 2025

Posted on December 5, 2025 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday and happy December! We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving with friends and family. We all enjoyed our Thanksgiving break and it left us energized for winter and the holiday season. The holiday lights are up here in downtown Lawrence, Kansas and everything is looking very festive. As we start the final month of the year we hope you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the season. Have a great weekend!

This week in federal government contracting news included updates on the federal workforce and IT and technology specific procurement actions and rules.