Category Archives: Federal Government Contracting

Govology Webinar: Avoiding Common Bid Protest Mistakes, September 11, 2025

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Bid protests are an unavoidable part of federal contracting—and they seem to be happening more often as competition grows. What many contractors don’t realize is that the outcome of a protest is often determined before it’s even filed. Understanding the rules, timelines, and procedures is critical to protecting your company’s chances.

In this focused course, federal government contracting attorneys John Holtz and Gregory Weber will break down the most common mistakes contractors make during the protest process—and how to avoid them.

Key topics include:

  • The difference between bid protests and size/status protests
  • What pre-bid protests are and why they matter
  • Critical deadlines and how debriefs affect them
  • How to get the most from a debrief
  • Frequent pitfalls that can hurt the protest success

Please join us for this informative Govology webinar by registering here.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 18-22, 2025

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Happy Friday! It’s beginning to look like the Fall season is upon us, with the kids going back to school and football season starting. Our college town is buzzing with activities as the students arrive to start the semester. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and can catch a game or two.

This week in federal government contracting, take a look at articles showing potential GSA acquisitions for an AI procurement system, increased use of best in class contracts, and new cybersecurity requirements.

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TAA Can Apply to Small Business Set-Aside: COC Clarifies Trade Agreements Act and Buy American Act Applicability

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The Trade Agreements Act (TAA) and Buy American Act (BAA) are among the most complex regulatory systems in federal contracting. There’s been a lot of confusion from both contractors and agencies on when they apply to a procurement and how. We have written on the BAA and TAA in the past. Recently, the Court of Federal Claims issued a decision discussing how the two laws interact, and showed that how they apply depends significantly on the circumstances of the procurement, providing some clarification on a past GAO decision we wrote on as well (which held that the TAA is inapplicable to small business set-asides). We will explore that here. 

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 11-15, 2025

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Happy Friday to our SmallGovCon readers. I just got back from a lovely trip through upstate New York and Canada to visit Niagara Falls. Here is the view of Horseshoe Falls, the largest of the waterfalls in Niagara Falls. The view of the falls is majestic and the cooler weather in that area was a welcome relief. We also visited Saratoga Battlefield and got to learn how the first battle against the British was won by the US military. Hope you are having a great end to the summer. Here are some key updates from federal contracting, including some potential legislation on procurement reform and updates to the FAR.

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GovCon FAQs: Can I Ask the Government to Participate in ADR?

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Why yes, yes you can! In fact, there is a little known provision of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) that speaks directly to a contractor’s right to request government participation in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for any contracting “issue in controversy.” And as long as the four essential elements of ADR stated therein are met, a contracting officer must either agree to such ADR or provide a written explanation with cited statutory or legal authority for rejecting the request.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 4-8, 2025

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Happy Friday! I just got back from a trip to Niagara Falls and enjoyed some cooler weather up there. Unfortunately, the bulk of the country, including in the Midwest, is suffering through some heat. I think it is safe to say that we are looking forward to some cooler weather this Fall. We hope you had a great week and are staying cool in your neck of the woods. Have a wonderful weekend.

This week in federal government contracting news included stories about CMMC approaching, increased FAA funding, and a new GSA administrator.

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Back to Basics: Brand Name or Equal

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In some circumstances, it is in the best interest of the government customer to require a specific item made by a specific manufacturer. Though it doesn’t use this technique often, the government can achieve this by soliciting the contract using a “brand name or equal” basis. But the government can’t just decide that it wants a Hoover over a Bissel vacuum. No, there is a process that must be followed, and circumstances must warrant such a requirement.

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