Wednesday marked the official start of summer, and I’ll be spending the next few months taking full advantage–grilling out on the deck, enjoying a family beach trip, and more.  Whether you’re at the beach, on the deck, or sitting in an office cubicle, it’s always nice to have some good reading material.  And if you’re here at SmallGovCon, you’re among those who consider government contracting articles to be good reading material.

In this edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review, Bloomberg Government takes a look at how “mid-tier” contractors can get squeezed out of government work, the House Small Business Committee approves a bill to get some small contractors paid faster, the Army wasted as much as $28 million on “pretty” uniforms for Afghan soldiers, and more.

• Two of the federal government’s most important contracts are squeezing out mid-tier companies, according to Bloomberg Government analysis. [Bloomberg Government]
• The number of multiple award contracts has been dropping since 2012. Can the Office of Management and Budget implement their new streamlined process to continue the trend? [Federal News Radio]
• NOAA released a special notice declaring ‘there is no draft or final solicitation available at this time” regarding the highly anticipated computing contract draft solicitation worth up to $500 million. [Nextgov]
• According to one commentator, a recent procurement fraud settlement highlights a need to get tougher on fraudsters. [Townhall]
• After a series of bid protests from Northrop Grumman dating back to 2015, Raytheon has been re-awarded a $1 billion cyber contract to protect government networks. [Nextgov]
• Three memos trying to bust contracting myths weren’t enough, as four agencies try to reverse years of industry/government communication problems. [Federal News Radio]
• Small businesses could be paid faster for work done on some federal contracts under a bill approved by the House Small Business Committee. [SFGATE]
• Preliminary moves by the White House to ease the moratorium on reviewing federal jobs for outsourcing under the guidelines in Circular A-76 have drawn some skepticism with the Office of Management and Budget. [Government Executive]
• The Pentagon wasted as much as $28 million over the last decade on Afghan soldier’s camouflage uniforms despite the fact that forests make up only a small fraction of the country’s landscape. [Government Executive]