SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 8-12, 2025

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.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 1-5, 2025

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.

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FAR 2.0 Update: Part 15 – Contracting By Negotiation

As most federal contractors have heard, the Federal Acquisition Regulation is undergoing a major overhaul. FAR 2.0, commonly referred to as the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (or just the “RFO”), is the responsibility of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council). Initiated by Executive Order 14275, the new FAR 2.0 process has been going quickly, with lots of proposed revisions.

Our earlier posts regarding the RFO can be found here: Executive Order, Overview of FAR 2.0, FAR Part 6, FAR Part 19, FAR Part 12.

Work continues over at the OFPP and FAR Council, and today we’re covering some of their most substantial changes yet: Part 15 – Contracting by Negotiation.

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Happy Thanksgiving from SmallGovCon!

As we dive into another Thanksgiving season, we wanted to say thank you to all of our wonderful readers who make SmallGovCon such a nice place to write for. We love receiving your comments and questions. Whether you’ve been here for years or just stumbled in recently, we appreciate you. We hope your day is filled with good food, good company, and good cheer. Happy Thanksgiving!

SmallGovCon Week in Review: Nov. 17-21, 2025

It’s time for the SmallGovCon Week in Review. As you head in to your weekend and look forward to Thanksgiving, it’s time to catch up on the latest in federal contracting news. Have a great weekend and enjoy some crisp fall weather.

This week in federal government contracting saw the NDAA rounding into form, changes to space contracting, and updates for how AI can be used in the federal space.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: Nov. 10-14, 2025

Happy Friday! It’s been another eventful stretch across the federal landscape, as agencies continue navigating everything from sweeping acquisition updates to the lingering aftershocks of the longest government shutdown on record. In other news, SBA has cleared its VetCert backlog for SDVOSB companies. Check out the articles below for the full rundown and enjoy your weekend!

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OHA Finds Totality of the Circumstances Affiliation Based on Loans and Close Oversight of Operations

Long-time SmallGovCon readers are probably aware of the thorny issues presented by an SBA finding of affiliation. When set aside contracts are dependent on a small business size status, an allegation of affiliation with a large business can be a crisis for a small business contractor. SBA’s affiliation doctrine is large and complex (so much so that we have an entire handbook dedicated to the subject).  But there is one catch-all affiliation provision that is perhaps the murkiest area of all, meaning the hardest to predict). If SBA does not find affiliation based on things like common ownership or common management (relatively straightforward concepts), it can nonetheless find affiliation based on “the totality of the circumstances.”

A recent OHA decision found affiliation based on totality of the circumstances, in part based on loans causing economic dependence, heavy reliance on infrastructure of an affiliate, and involvement in banking and operations.

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