SmallGovCon Weeks In Review: November 21-December 2, 2016

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I hope that all of our readers had a happy Thanksgiving.  The holiday season is in full swing here at Koprince Law LLC, where we have a festive tree in our lobby and holiday cookies in the kitchen.

But between holiday shopping and snacking, there is still plenty happening in the world of federal government contracts.  Today, we have a special SmallGovCon “Weeks” in Review, beginning with stories from November 21.  The latest news and commentary includes two different cases in which business owners were convicted procurement fraud, a potential end to the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces regulations, and much more.

  • DBE fraud: an Illinois contractor pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud after allegedly acting as a disadvantaged business for another company, resulting in fines over $200,000. [Construction Dive]
  • President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” rule for federal contractors appears to be headed for the chopping block once President-elect Trump takes office. [Government Executive]
  • A proposed rule by the FAR Council would amend the FAR to implement a section of the NDAA that will clarify that agency personnel are permitted and encouraged to engage in responsible constructive exchanges with industry. [Federal Register]
  • The GSA’s SAM database is under fire for the accuracy of its data and Members of Congress are questioning how GSA ensures tax delinquent vendors do not win federal contracts or grants. [Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]
  • The owner of a sham “veteran-owned” company has been ordered to forfeit $6.7 million for his part in recruiting veterans as figurehead owners of  a construction company in order to receive specialized government contracts. [The United States Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts]
  • Court documents show that a former employee with the U.S. Department of State was guilty of steering sole-sourcing contracts worth $2 million to a company in which his son was a 50 percent interest. [KTVH]
  • The election of Donald Trump had a surprise impact on the November House-Senate conference meetings on the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. [Government Executive]
  • Bloomberg Government data shows that federal information technology spending on government-wide acquisition contracts, or GWACs, topped $10 billion for the first time in fiscal 2016. [Bloomberg Government]