SmallGovCon Week In Review: October 14 – October 18, 2019

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Shane McCall

We’re getting into the Halloween spirit early in these parts, including Lawrence’s annual Zombie Walk that took place last night. Government contractors should not feel left out, as the CDC has its own Zombie Preparedness emergency preparedness campaign that you can check out.

We’ve also scared up some interesting (or potentially frightening) stories from the government contracting world this week. This week, look for updates about the National Background Investigations Bureau being transferred to Department of Defense, possibilities of the Section 8461 e-commerce effort; and new technology for FOIA reports.

5 Things You Should Know: Pre-Award Bid Protests

Posted on October 17, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

Editor’s note: For more information, check out our updated post on Pre-Award Bid Protests.

Small businesses often search for ways to increase their competitiveness for federal government contracts. A sometimes overlooked method is to try to better define the procurement’s requirements in a manner that improves a firm’s chances of being awarded the contract, through a pre-award bid protest.

Here are five things you should know about pre-award protests:

GAO Finds NASA Effectively Evaluated Risks of the Unknown

Posted on October 16, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

NASA is going back to the moon and is looking for private companies to help get it there. In 2018, NASA awarded nine IDIQ Commercial Lunar Payload Service contracts for commercial payload delivery services between the Earth and the lunar surface. This is a sea-change for NASA as “no [United States] commercial company has ever attempted to launch, transit, and land” on the moon.

Prior to award, NASA asked for task order proposals to include a description of risks and mitigation efforts. You might be asking–how can NASA effectively evaluate risk for something that has not been done before? A protester asked the same question, but GAO agreed with NASA’s risk analysis on the project and found the protester’s questions to be mere disagreement with the evaluation.

“Open your Email Attachments!” Says GAO

Posted on October 15, 2019 by SmallGovCon Contributor

With the ongoing rise of technology in the workplace, safe email practices are increasingly important. In particular, many in the cybersecurity community are concerned about email attachments and spam. Even so, in Information Unlimited, Inc., B-415716.40 (Oct. 4, 2019), GAO warned protesters not to delay in opening email attachments provided by the government.

OHA Lacks Jurisdiction for NAICS Appeal of GPO Procurement on VA’s Behalf

Posted on October 14, 2019 by Nicole Pottroff

OHA recently confirmed that it lacked jurisdiction to decide a NAICS code appeal regarding a GPO procurement, even though that procurement was conducted on behalf on the VA. OHA’s dismissal was based on the fact that GPO, a legislative branch agency, is not subject to the same rules as the executive agencies.

FAR Update Will Limit use of LPTA in Non-DOD Procurements

Posted on October 14, 2019 by Shane McCall

A quick update on a proposed FAR rule that will put in place restrictions on use of lowest-price, technically acceptable (LPTA) solicitations in non-DOD agencies, as mandated in the 2019 NDAA. There are a few differences from the similar rule that recently went into effect for DOD.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: October 7 – October 11, 2019

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Shane McCall

The end of the government’s fiscal year always brings a rash of government purchasing. We hope the government’s purchasing push has been good for all of our readers. As you recover from the busy last couple of weeks, enjoy this week’s updates in government contracting, which may help put some perspective on what just happened at the end of the last fiscal year and identify future trends for government acquisitions.

This week’s updates include a recap of large defense deals, the future of the Federal Data Strategy, and a State Department contracting officer convicted of bribery.