As the Trump administration continues to eliminate federal positions and reduce contract and grant outlays, many private companies will likely be eyeing current and former government employees for employment over the coming...more
3/6/2025
/ Compliance ,
DFARS ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Ethics ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration
Over the first month of the new administration, President Trump has directed the review or termination of certain types of contracts and grants, including equity-related agreements, awards under the Inflation Reduction Act...more
3/3/2025
/ Compliance ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraudulent Procurement ,
Government Agencies ,
Grants ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
USAID
In 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) provided useful insights to the healthcare industry regarding how it approaches various fraud and abuse issues in an...more
2/7/2025
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Billing ,
Compliance ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
OIG ,
Risk Management ,
Settlement ,
Stark Law ,
Telehealth
In addition to the Trump administration’s general freeze on most grant funding, which was rescinded as well as enjoined by federal district courts in Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., the new administration yesterday took...more
On January 8, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a pre-award bid protest filed by Bass, Berry & Sims PLC (Bass Berry), which challenged the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers’ (FLETC or the Agency)...more
On January 6, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Athira Pharma Inc., a Washington-based biopharmaceutical company, agreed to pay over $4 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act (FCA). The...more
After numerous fits and starts, on October 14, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a final rule implementing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. Borne from documented deficiencies in the...more
11/12/2024
/ Certifications ,
Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
NIST ,
Proposed Regulation
On October 3, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a strategic plan for improving oversight of public grants and contracts “to strengthen compliance with HHS award...more
In the past few days, there have been multiple developments in the legal challenges to the various vaccine mandates, one in favor of a mandate, one against. In addition, the first vaccine mandate challenge has now reached the...more
12/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Injunctions ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
State and Local Government ,
Stays ,
Time Extensions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
Likely in response to the flurry of litigation challenging the government contractor vaccine mandate, on November 16 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a new notice of determination and request for comments...more
11/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OMB ,
OSHA ,
Stays ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The Safer Federal Workplace Task Force (Task Force) recently issued additional Q&A’s that seemingly take a softer approach to compliance with the contractor vaccine mandate, indicating contracting officers are to “work with,”...more
The Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee (ISDC) recently released its annual report to Congress regarding suspension and debarment across the federal government in FY 2019. The report serves as a yearly reminder...more
For over a year, we have been discussing the Department of Defense’s (DoD) eventual implementation of a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program for Defense contractors, most recently during a webinar in...more
For companies frustrated with the increasingly complex and burdensome compliance obligations imposed on government contractors, the elimination of some or all of the burdensome rules, which are both expensive and distinct...more