GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (1/18–22)
This week's Weekly Debrief concludes a big week that included America's celebration of the great life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris. While President Biden has already started issuing Executive Orders, much remains to be seen on how the President's policies will impact federal procurement.
Regardless, we will continue to provide news, insights, and legal analysis on issues impacting the government contracting space – stay tuned and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter! This edition covers Biden's mask mandate and diversity training, SECDEF's confirmation hearing, nuclear nonproliferation, reinventing foreign aid, and a guilty plea in a COVID relief fraud scheme.
Biden Administration
"President Joe Biden took a series of executive actions on his first day in office, reversing some Trump-era policies for federal employees and contractors and creating a slew of new responsibilities for federal agencies. The president signed more than a dozen executive orders and memos Wednesday evening, including one that mandates mask-wearing for federal employees and contractors while inside government buildings and on federal lands. It also requires members of the public to wear a mask while visiting federal spaces."
Defense
"The soon-to-be confirmed nominee for secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, made no major pronouncements about technology policy during his confirmation hearing Tuesday, but he committed to working on overarching innovation and technology goals within the Department of Defense."
"Alongside the tumultuous presidential transition, the incoming Biden administration faces a deteriorating international situation. Great power rivals in China and Russia increasingly challenge American global leadership, while American allies feel abandoned in a dangerous world."
Foreign Aid
"When President John F. Kennedy created the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1961, he could not have imagined that helping other countries develop would be such an unpredictable, ever-changing task. What started as the funding of roads, schools and clinics in faraway places is today a global search for solutions to some of the world’s most intractable problems—from entrenched poverty and corruption to climate change and pandemics."
Justice
"A Washington man pleaded guilty today to perpetrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act."
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