It’s been a wild week in the world of federal government contracting. Yesterday the Supreme Court issued two major decisions affecting contractors: Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States and Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar.  If you’re a regular SmallGovCon reader, you know that I’ve been following Kingdomware closely for years, and we will have a separate post later today with reaction to Kingdomware from around the country.  But Escobar is an important decision too, so don’t miss out on the coverage of that case.

In addition to coverage of Escobar, this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review features a major new rule prohibiting contractors from discriminating on the basis of sex, GSA adding a new category on IT Schedule 70,  the indictment of a former GSA director and many more.

• The ability to incorporate secretly in the U.S. has enabled criminals to carry out all sorts of crimes – from defrauding school districts to laundering drug money, all while carrying out government-awarded contracts. [The Hill]
• Contractors are attempting to get on the presidential candidates’ radar well before our new Commander-in-Chief is even elected. [Government Executive]
• Escobar: An important Supreme Court case involves the False Claims Act, the most important federal law that most people don’t know. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
• The inevitable amendments and extensions when a contract ends its period of performance can complicate the process for small businesses with limited resources; the General Services Administration is now trying to address small businesses’ expectations. [Government Executive]
• The GSA is expected to publish a solicitation August 12 for a new category on IT Schedule 70 related to “Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services.” [fedscoop]
• There is a growing recognition that the future of federal contracting may involve an “unpriced” schedule that involves evaluating vendors for their capabilities, past performance and overall skillsets, and not on their prices, and then allow price competition to happen at the task order level. [Federal News Radio]
• A business opportunity specialist for the Small Business Administration explains what the 8(a) Business Development Program is and how government agencies should submit offer letters to get involved. [Washington Technology]
• The Labor Department has come out with detailed guidance to help federal contractors comply with an executive order that prohibits companies from discriminating against LGBT employees. [Government Executive]
• The Department of Labor has issued a final rule overhauling the sex discrimination rules governing contractors and subcontractors. [Federal Register]
• A federal grand jury has indicted a former Director of a General Services Administration division and her husband for fraud and nepotism. [Office of Inspector General]
• Escobar: The U.S. Supreme Court limited the reach of a whistleblower law designed to ferret out fraud, in a mixed ruling for health-care companies and other government contractors. [Bloomberg Politics]
• Escobar: The U.S. Supreme Court made it a little harder for lawyers to press whistleblower lawsuits over minor violations of government contract terms. [Forbes]

Before we go we would also like to wish all of the dads out there a very happy Father’s Day!