Open vs. Conventional SBIR/STTR Topics
GAO’s 2025 report on SBIR/STTR finds open topics now account for about half of FY 2023 awards and increase competition, but inconsistent definitions across agencies hinder outcome measurement. SBA plans guidance to standardize labels. Federal contractors should adjust capture strategies and prepare for policy changes that may reshape pipelines and metrics.
Unified FAR Agenda Signals Tightening Cyber, Supply-Chain, and OCI Controls—What Contractors Should Expect in 2026
The Sept. 22, 2025 FAR Unified Agenda previews major compliance shifts for federal contractors in 2026: CUI harmonization, incident-reporting attestations, secure-software requirements, FASCSA exclusion orders, Section 889 enterprise-use bans, and revamped OCI rules. Here’s why these items matter and how to prepare.
The Transparency in Contract Pricing Act of 2025: Why It Matters for Federal Contractors
Proposed DoD legislation would require contractors on sole-source sustainment awards to notify contracting officers within 30 days of significant price increases (25%/50% thresholds), with DCAA reporting noncompliance to FAPIIS. Learn what triggers notice, how to build controls, and why early price transparency protects awards and past performance.
Faster, Smarter Buying: New FAR “Companion”
The FAR Council’s 2025 “FAR Companion” accelerates commercial buying with RFQ-centric procedures up to $7.5M (and $15M for certain emergencies), emphasizes comparative evaluations on existing vehicles, and tightens debrief/protest timing.
When Documentation Determines Destiny: GAO Sustains IPRO’s Protest in CMS QIN-QIO Award
GAO sustained IPRO’s protest of CMS’s QIN-QIO Region 1 award because CMS failed to document how the awardee met a prime-only eligibility test. Technical and tradeoff challenges were denied. The ruling highlights that JV/subcontractor structures must be reconciled to solicitation language and that contemporaneous analysis—not post-hoc rationales—controls.
DOD’s Cyber Force Is Bigger—and More Duplicative—Than Many Think
GAO’s 2025 review of DOD cyberspace operations counts ~440 units, 61k personnel, and 9.5k contractors, and flags overlap in training and among 23 CSSPs. With DOD concurring on consolidation assessments, federal contractors should prepare for larger, joint standards–driven competitions across training and enterprise cyber defense.
GAO Sustains Protest on Past Performance and Tradeoff: Why Enviremedial Services, Inc. Matters for Contractors
GAO sustained ESI’s protest in a best-value facilities maintenance award, finding improper attribution and documentation of the awardee’s past performance and an inadequately reasoned tradeoff despite a small price advantage. The case underscores strict prime-only past performance rules, JV/affiliate pitfalls, and the need for qualitative tradeoffs.
Sovereign “Public AI” and Why It Matters to Federal Contractors
Apertus, a Swiss “public AI,” signals a shift toward sovereign, open, and auditable AI infrastructure. For U.S. federal contractors, OMB M-24-10 and the NAIRR pilot point to solicitations that reward transparent data, reproducible evaluation, security, and governance. Prepare for contracts where compliance and lifecycle stewardship rival model performance.
SSA’s IT Acquisition Workforce Gaps—and Why Contractors Should Care
GAO’s August 2025 report on SSA’s IT acquisition workforce finds staffing, data, and training gaps amid procurement consolidation to GSA. With IT obligations declining and services dominating spend, federal contractors should expect longer cycles, tighter oversight, and more competition on GWACs—and respond with friction-reducing proposals and measurable outcomes.
Military Moves, Measured: Why GAO’s Review of DOD’s Relocation Reforms Matters to Federal Contractors
GAO’s Sept. 2025 report on DOD’s military moves program explains why the Global Household Goods Contract failed: unreliable capacity data, blind spots in performance metrics, and unclear costs. Federal contractors should note the implications for pricing, telemetry, subcontractor incentives, and SCA compliance in future, large-scale service transitions.
The FAR Part 7 Line-Out: Why It Matters for Contractors
The FAR Overhaul’s line-out for Part 7 streamlines acquisition planning by reserving FAR 7.105 and shifting “how-to” detail to non-regulatory Practitioner materials, elevating agency procedures and class deviations. Contractors should monitor local policy, validate planning assumptions early, and track ongoing feedback windows to manage risk.
DFARS Final Rule on CMMC: What It Means for Federal Contractors
DoD’s final DFARS rule makes CMMC a condition of award, tying eligibility to current SPRS-posted status, UIDs, and annual affirmations. It adds a 180-day conditional window, clarifies phased implementation, tightens subcontractor flowdown, and formalizes program-office level determinations—raising high-stakes, ongoing compliance for primes and subs across the defense supply chain.
GAO Clarifies Small-Business Participation Must Cover Surge When Measured Against Total Estimated Task-Order Amount
GAO’s Sept. 2, 2025 decision in Resource Management Concepts clarifies that when solicitations measure small-business participation against the total estimated task-order amount, agencies must include surge. Contractors must narratively allocate surge to small businesses—pricing formulas alone won’t suffice—under SeaPort-NxG and similar DoD task orders.
Why GAO’s Review of NNSA’s Fusion-Facility Recapitalization Matters to Federal Contractors
GAO’s 2025 review of NNSA’s fusion-facility recapitalization outlines a $492M near-term sustainment plan, a billion-dollar-scale NIF upgrade, and evolving options for Z. For federal contractors, the report foreshadows capital projects, long-lead procurements, and tighter baseline-driven performance management—key signals for capture strategy and execution.
Federal Debriefings: Timelines, Questions, and Protest Pitfalls
An academic, plain-English guide to federal debriefings that explains the three-day request rule, GAO’s ten-day filing deadline, CICA’s five-day stay clock, the DoD enhanced Q&A timeline, common traps under FAR 8.4 and IDIQ orders, and the specific questions that turn debriefings into durable competitive advantage.
OTAs at Scale, Accountability in Flux: Why GAO’s 2025 Findings Matter to Federal Contractors
GAO’s 2025 report on DOD OTAs finds rising use but inadequate tracking of prototype-to-production transitions—especially when production shifts to FAR contracts. With new recommendations DOD accepts, contractors should expect tighter data reporting, greater transparency in consortia awards, and a continued need to make prototypes “FAR-ready” for production.
Pre-Award Boundaries Reaffirmed: GAO’s PSEI v. DCSA and What It Teaches Contractors
GAO’s August 25, 2025 decision in PSEI v. DCSA reaffirms three pre-award baselines: agencies need not restrict non-VA buys to SDVOSB set-asides, firm-fixed-price unit rates are permissible with adequate history despite variable demand, and phase-in may be funded via the first task order with specific prerequisites. Key guidance for capture, pricing, and transition.
GAO to VA: Make Category Management Real — Why Contractors Should Care
GAO’s September 2025 review of VA acquisitions finds leadership accountability gaps, low best-in-class usage, and missing category-level savings goals—changes that will reshape how VA buys. For contractors, expect tougher proof of savings, more data-driven decisions, and new vendor-risk requirements. Learn what to do now to stay competitive.
Aviation Meteorologists Are in Short Supply—And That Matters for Federal Contractors
GAO warns that staffing of NWS aviation meteorologists embedded with FAA has fallen to 69, increasing risk to safety and efficiency in the National Airspace System. With the interagency agreement expiring and new models coming, federal contractors should update risk plans and position solutions for hybrid, locally aware weather decision support.
Interpreting the August 2025 FAR Overhaul: Implications for Federal Contractors
August 2025 FAR changes elevate best-in-class vehicles, embed shared-services preferences, streamline GSA Schedule ordering via GSAM 538, and expand simplified commercial acquisition (including $7.5M procedures). Contractors should prioritize BIC access, optimize catalogs for GSA’s emerging ecosystem, and recalibrate BPA and capture strategies to align with the new policy default.