Joint ventures are quite popular in federal contracting. And for good reason. Joint ventures allow contractors to team up to pursue and perform federal set-aside contracts and subcontracts–combining their past performance, experience, and capabilities and sharing their costs and resources. They allow contractors that are not quite ready or capable to take on a full federal project solo to gain such experience and establish that direct client relationship as sort of a “co-prime.” They also offer the government-client a two-for-one package that still “checks the boxes” for set-aside work–that is, if they are formed and utilized in a manner compliant with the rules. This blog provides the step-by-step process of forming a joint venture (don’t forget to brush up on the basics of joint ventures here for more on the benefits, the agreement itself, and the performance requirements).
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Expanding Exemptions: DoW Seeks Additional FOIA Exemption for CUI
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted in 1967, allows the public to request federal government records. It is designed to require disclosure of US government records in the absence of any of its 9 exemptions for things like privacy, national security, and law enforcement.
Now, the Department of War (DoW) has asked Congress for additional exemptions to disclosing documents under (FOIA). DoW has submitted a legislative proposal to create an exemption for controlled unclassified information (CUI).
Continue readingBREAKING: Comment Period on Proposed Size Standards and Methodology Extended to November 20, 2026
Back on August 19, 2026, SBA issued proposed rules–one covering what would change and one covering the underlying methodology. This would, in most cases, monumentally increase the size standards for the various industries that perform federal contracts, along with simplifying how industries are categorized and switching several industries from receipts-based to employee-based size standards. Indeed, we had two separate posts on these changes, one exploring the actual size standard increases and the other exploring the recategorization and switch to employee-based size standards. SBA initially set a deadline of September 21, 2026, for comments on these changes. Now, it is extending that date, as we’ll explore briefly below.
Continue reading8(a) Program Impacts of SBA’s Final Rule on Social Disadvantage
Our readers already know that SBA finally updated its 8(a) Program social disadvantage regulation to reflect SBA’s current policies and application review standards and procedures. And that new rule takes effect today! We previously blogged on this regulatory update here. We also blogged on the corresponding guidance issued by SBA here. In this article, we will take a more in-depth look at the new final rule, its potential implications, and some of the remaining questions it leaves unanswered.
Continue readingSBA Proposes Monumental Changes to Small Business Size Standards (Part 2)
As we discussed last week, on August 19, 2026, SBA proposed what can only be described as a complete shift in the paradigm of the small business size standards. In the first part of our review of these changes, we looked at the actual planned size standards themselves and how massive of a jump they represent from the norm. In that post, we also mentioned that SBA is proposing to simplify and combine several NAICS codes, as well as move several NAICS codes from receipts-based to employee-based size standards. Today, we’re going to explore this latter observation.
Continue readingSBA Proposes Monumental Changes to Small Business Size Standards (Part 1)
Every few years, SBA updates its size standards for small businesses. In most years, these updates, while notable, are not groundshaking, and usually just account for inflation. That cannot be said of the most recent proposed changes. We do not use hyperbole here, but, sometimes, emphatic language must be used. SBA is proposing what can only be described as absolutely massive changes to its size standards for small business contracting. On August 19, 2026, SBA released its proposal for what can only be described as a new size standard paradigm. We explore these in greater detail here, and plan on one or more follow-up posts as there are multiple aspects of the system that would be changed if the proposal is finalized.
Continue readingReviewing RFO Proposed Rules: Parts 5, 24, 29, and 52
In June 2026, the FAR Council released its first batch of proposed rules in the Federal Register to implement the changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). We recently covered the first of those proposed rules, which amended language in FAR Parts 1, 2, 4, 33, 39, 40, 52, and 53. In this post, we will review how the RFO is being implemented regarding FAR Parts 5, 24, 29, and 52. From a general perspective, it looks like the proposed regulation tracks with the proposed language already issued under the RFO.
We’ve posted quite extensively about the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) project in past blog posts. For some background info, check out these posts: Executive Order, Overview of FAR 2.0, FAR 2.0: Deviations and Companion Guide, FAR Part 6, FAR Part 19 (and the Once 8(a) Rule in that part), FAR Part 12, FAR Part 15, and FAR Part 33.
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