After we published a post about the Eleventh Circuit’s decision to narrow the scope of the nationwide preliminary injunction of the government contractor vaccine mandate, the government announced that, for the time being, it will not enforce the mandate.  The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force added the following statement to its website:

Regarding Applicable Court Orders and Injunctions: To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce Executive Order 14042. For existing contracts or contract-like instruments (hereinafter “contracts”) that contain a clause implementing requirements of Executive Order 14042, the Government will take no action to enforce the clause implementing requirements of Executive Order 14042, absent further written notice from the agency.

Continue Reading Government to Withhold Enforcement of the Vaccine Mandate. For Now.

I recently authored an article for Law360 offering perspective on a proposed rule announced by the Small Business Administration (SBA) on July 6. The new rule will establish a government-wide certification process for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) to be eligible for the federal contract set-aside programs, which were established in a 2004 executive order by President George W. Bush to increase participation of these groups in government contracting.

Continue Reading Challenges of New SBA Proposal for Veteran-Owned Small Business Government Contractors

I recently authored an article for Law360 providing insight on a recent appellate ruling related to violations of the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), along with takeaways from the case and next steps from the U.S. Department of Commerce to address related compliance issues.

Continue Reading Key Takeaways from Recent ECRA Compliance Case

On Friday, August 26, the Eleventh Circuit published the long-awaited decision in the government’s appeal of a nationwide injunction halting the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for government contractors and subcontractors. Although the decision found that the plaintiffs were entitled to an injunction, the Eleventh Circuit also found that the Southern District of Georgia’s injunction, which applied nationwide, was overly broad. The court narrowed the injunction to apply only to the plaintiffs, stating that they need not comply with the vaccine mandate in their capacity as contractors or incorporate it in lower-tier subcontracts. The appellate court left the prohibition against federal agencies considering compliance with the mandate in proposal evaluations, but only to the extent a plaintiff submitted a bid.

Continue Reading The Contractor Vaccine Mandate is Back?

Today, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule adding seven Chinese entities to the Entity List. The U.S. government determined these seven entities, primarily supporting the Chinese aerospace and space industries, had acted “contrary to national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.” BIS stated that the entities were acquiring or attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items to support China’s military modernization campaign. These seven entities bring the total number of listed Chinese entities to approximately 600.

Continue Reading Commerce Targets Chinese Military-Civil Fusion Program as Seven Chinese Entities Added to the Entity List

The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Mentor-Protégé program (MPP) was designed to strengthen the capabilities of small businesses, increase their participation in the DOD contract pool, and contribute to “the diversity and vitality of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base (DIB).” Like the Small Business Administration’s MPP, the program pairs small businesses with larger contractors to develop mutually beneficial relationships. Established on November 5, 1990, the DOD’s MPP has been consistently reauthorized over the last 30 years, but only as a pilot. That could quickly change, as new recommendations from the Defense Business Board (DBB) seek to bring permanency and increase participation, understanding, and oversight.

Continue Reading DOD’s Mentor-Protégé Program May Be Getting a Facelift

I recently authored an article for Law360 discussing a May 2022 ruling in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) and how it has curtailed federal agencies’ authority to cancel government contract solicitations.

Continue Reading Recent COFC Decision on Federal Agencies’ Authority to Cancel Government Contract Solicitations

The Bass, Berry & Sims international trade team is actively monitoring the situation in Russia and Ukraine and providing real-time advice to clients on managing the situation. This post summarizes new U.S. sanctions and export restrictions as of Tuesday, August 9. This post supplements our previous summaries, which are available by following the links at the end of this blog post.

Treasury Targets Broad Range of Entities in Recent Round of Sanctions

On August 2, acting pursuant to Executive Order 14024, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions designating members of the Russian elite, a multinational corporation, and sanctions evaders.

Continue Reading Russia, Ukraine: Update as of August 9

The Anti-Assignment Act, referring to both the Assignment of Contracts Act and Assignment of Claims Act, which prohibits the assignment of government contracts and claims, respectively, has had a fairly uneven applicatory history. On June 27, the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) did its best to clarify the legislation’s “operation of law” exception as it relates to contractor mergers and acquisitions. The CBCA sided with the government contractor, agreeing that following a merger, the surviving entity was entitled to perform on the former entity’s contract, by “operation of law,” regardless of the alleged misrepresentation, in ATS Trans LLC dba Around the Sound/TransPro v. Department of Veterans Affairs. Continue Reading CBCA Opinion Provides Clarity on Anti-Assignment Act’s Murky “Operation of Law” Exception

On August 9, President Biden plans to sign the CHIPS and Science Act into law in the White House Rose Garden. The bill provides $52.7 billion in subsidies and incentives to domestic semiconductor manufacturers to strengthen existing supply chains and better compete with China. While details of the bill have been debated as the legislation has gone through multiple rounds of revisions and edits, elected officials have remained focused on the goal of enacting a bill that ensures funding to promote domestic rather than non-U.S. business. To realize those ambitions, the legislative authors took a page from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ (CIFUS) playbook, producing a quasi-outbound investment screening mechanism that could bring big changes.

Continue Reading Chipping Away at Trade: New Tool Could Bring Big Changes

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

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