On August 27, 2026, Judge Rita F. Lin of the Northern District of California ruled largely in favor of Anthropic PBC in its suit against the Department of War and other federal agencies over the government’s decision to bar all federal use of Anthropic’s AI products and prohibit defense contractors from doing business with the
For companies selling innovative technology to the federal government, a Commercial Solutions Opening (“CSO”) can provide a path to government business that looks quite different from a conventional FAR-based solicitation. CSOs are designed to give agencies—particularly the Department of Defense (“DoD”)—greater flexibility to acquire innovative commercial products, services, and capabilities while reducing some of the
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, DOGE Wall of Receipts: More Transparency Needed on How Savings Are Derived from Contract, Grant, and Lease Terminations (GAO-26-108615, Aug. 2026), takes a hard look at the $110 billion in purported contract, grant, and lease “savings” that the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has publicized since
On August 20, 2026, President Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 17 (NSPM-17), establishing a new National Space Transportation Policy and replacing the policy that had governed federal space transportation since 2013. The goal is ambitious: By 2030, America must be capable of supporting more than 1,000 launches and reentries every year. For perspective
The U.S. Department of Justice is signaling a significant escalation in federal fraud enforcement, and government contractors should take notice. In an August 13, 2026, memorandum titled “The Fraud Division’s Enforcement Priorities,” Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald describes government procurement fraud as a “critical priority” for the Justice Department’s newly established National
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued an important new decision addressing the rights of small businesses to compete through teaming arrangements for large, consolidated federal contracts. In Intelligence Consulting Enterprise Solutions, Inc., B-424433.3, et al. (Aug. 11, 2026), GAO sustained a protest challenging the Army’s prohibition on small business prime contractors forming
Government contractors pursuing complex delay claims got a helpful reminder from the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) this month in the case of Bahadir Construction Engineering Contracting & Trading Inc. Co. & Impreza Costruzioni Giuseppe Maltauro S.p.A. Joint Venture, ASBCA Nos. 64038, 64336, 64428 (July 16, 2026): A claim does not
On August 11, 2026, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule amending 13 CFR § 124.103 to eliminate the 8(a) Business Development Program’s race-based rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage. In its place, SBA adopted a group-discrimination-plus-self-certification test that any individual American citizen may use, regardless of race, ethnicity, or sex. The rule takes
Bradley has been publishing an ongoing survey of state-level bid protest processes and procedures (see, e.g., our posts on “Bid Protests in Georgia,” “Bid Protests in the District of Columbia,” “Bid Protests in New York,” “Bid Protests in Virginia,” “Latest Update on Bid Protests in
In Veros Real Estate Solutions, LLC, B-423965.2, et al., July 22, 2026, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a protest challenging the Department of Veterans Affairs’ evaluation of the awardee’s past performance. For contractors, the decision is less about an isolated agency mistake than about how past-performance relevance is proved and challenged.