It is KU’s homecoming weekend here in Lawrence. I’m planning to catch KU’s homecoming parade with the family tonight, and then cheer KU onto football victory tomorrow against Oklahoma State (ok, that last part may be wishful thinking).
Of course, before we all head out to enjoy an autumn weekend, it’s time to get caught up on the latest in federal government contracting news. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, a former State Department employee will spend four years in prison for helping steer contracts to his son’s company, the IRS awards contracts to contractors owing back taxes, one commentator sounds a well-worn (and in my view, essentially incorrect) alarm about bid protests, and much more.
- A former State Department employee has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for helping to steer $2 million in government contracts to a company half owned by his son. [KOIN 6]
- Many federal agencies-including the IRS itself–are awarding contracts to contractors owing back taxes. [U.S. News]
- The FedRAMP overhaul is beginning to pay dividends. [Federal News Radio]
- The debate over the scope of the False Claims Act continues, with recent cases focusing on what happens if the government knew about a contractor’s noncompliance but paid anyway. [Bloomberg BNA]
- One commentator offers a well-worn “sky is falling” argument regarding bid protests, which includes cherry-picking statistics (like focusing on GAO’s relatively low sustain rate instead of the actual protest success rate) in an effort to make a case against the protest process. (My take: protests are relatively rare, and succeed nearly half the time. Improvements are always possible, but overall the system is working. Please stop whining). [NextGov]
- A new DFARS regulation clarifies which kinds of unclassified information contractors need to protect under DoD’s new cyber incident reporting requirement. [Federal Register]
- Speaking of the DFARS, a final rule has been issued regarding the mandatory display of hotline posters. [Federal Register]