govconjudicataTM

This week's Weekly Debrief covers robotic automation for VA's EHR system, DoD's $7b household goods contract, Space Force's polar communications system, CISA's plans for securing industrial control systems, and CMMC in GSA's STARS III governmentwide contract.

VA

• NextGov – VA Wants to Automate Digitization of its 5-Mile-High Electronic Health Record Backlog

  • ​"The Veterans Affairs Department is on the cusp of deploying a massive electronic health records system and wants to kno...

Recently, the Government Accountability Office ("GAO") sustained a protest where the awardee had actual knowledge––prior to award––that a key person was unavailable and failed to notify the agency of that material change.

The protest of M.C. Dean, Inc., B-418553; B-418553.2, June 15, 2020 involved a National Security Agency contract to "provide maintenance, installation, and distribution services for the agency’s comprehensive enterprise class physical security syste...

In a relatively rare occurrence, the Government is appealing a U.S. Court of Federal Claims' ("COFC") bid protest decision in NIKA Techs., Inc. v. United States, No. 20-299C (Fed. Cl. Apr. 16, 2020) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Fed. Cir. Case No. 20-1924).

In its appeal, the Government will be seeking clarity on an all too important issue facing defense contractors and procuring officials in negotiated procurements: where an unsuccessful offeror does n...

This week's Weekly Debrief covers GSA's cancellation of A2SB, malware aimed at federal agencies, DoD withdrawals DPA small launch awards, 2021 NDAA, IT modernization, and FEMA's need for  robotic process automation bots for payments.

Happy Q4!  Happy 4th of July!

GSA

• NextGov – After Years In Limbo, GSA Cancels $15B Governmentwide IT Contract

  • ​"The General Services Administration is canceling its small business IT governmentwide acquisition contract, with plans to reissue a new soli...

A recent Government Accountability Office ("GAO") bid protest decision provides a cautionary reminder for protesters concerning interested party status. Where a protester fails to challenge an evaluation decision rendering the protester ineligible for award, GAO will likely conclude that the protester is not an interested party and will dismiss the protest.

InBabel Street, Inc., B-418730, June 16, 2020, the protester challenged the Air Force's evaluation and awa...

Happy Juneteenth!  This week's Weekly Debrief covers the Supreme Court's recent decision holding discrimination against gay and transgender people as unlawful under Title VII, DoD IG's advice for effective pandemic contracting, NSA's revised telework guidance, COVID-19 cyber fraud, and an Illinois business owner charged with PPP fraud. 

Happy Juneteenth, everyone!

• General Order No. 3 – The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Ex...

Today, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ("SCOTUS") held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against or firing employees for being gay or transgender. [1]  Today's ruling is a major victory for the LGBTQ+ community, for LGBTQ+ allies, and for equality.

Briefly, Title VII makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee "because of such individual’s race, color, religi...

This week's Weekly Debrief covers DoD's request to Congress for funding to repay contractors, military officials are prepping for a second pandemic wave, new tech amid coronavirus, VA's EHR modernization, and news on STARS III and DEOS.

Pentagon

• Federal News Network – Pentagon says it needs billions to repay contractors for employee leave

  • ​"The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act gave the Defense Department the authority to reimburse federal contractors...

Recent Government Accountability Office ("GAO") bid protest decision holds that GAO lacks jurisdiction to hear a protester's challenge to being eliminated from further consideration under an Other Transaction Agreement ("OTA"). [1] Notably, while this decision is consistent with GAO's prior rulings, it also appears to be the first instance in which GAO ruled on a protester's exclusion from further consideration under an OTA.

Briefly, in System Architec...

This week's Weekly Debrief covers IT modernization, the DoD/CMMC-AB MOU, a ransomware hits a Maryland defense contractor, IRS workforce returning, DoD turning to gaming developers for training, and SOCOM's new PEO for software/AI.  

IT Modernization

• NextGov – Lawmaker Wants Hard Details on Agencies’ Plans to Upgrade Legacy IT

  • ​"While legacy IT issues have plagued federal agencies for years, the current COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated those issues and at least one lawmaker wan...