The Federal Circuit, in Island Creek Associates, LLC v. United States, No. 2025-1140 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 16, 2026), recently affirmed the dismissal of a bid protest brought by Island Creek Associates, LLC, a prime contractor on the Navy’s SeaPort-NxG multiple-award IDIQ contract (MAC). Tucked into the decision as an alternate basis for affirming
For a disappointed offeror, the first several days after receiving an award notice can be critical. Protest deadlines can be short, a debriefing can provide important information about the agency’s evaluation, and decisions made — or not made — during this period can affect the company’s ability to challenge the award.
The precise deadlines and
The defense industrial base is expanding, and the Department of War is actively recruiting new entrants, from venture-backed startups building autonomous systems to established IT services firms pivoting to classified work. But before any company can touch classified information, it must obtain a Facility Clearance (FCL) from the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). The
October 1 marks the beginning of the federal government’s new fiscal year and, for government contractors, the start of a new cycle of contracting, funding, and compliance activity. After the heightened procurement activity that often accompanies the September 30 fiscal year-end, contractors should use the beginning of the new fiscal year to assess their existing
Employee departures are a routine part of doing business. For government contractors, however, the departure of a key employee can raise issues that go well beyond ordinary employment law concerns.
A departing employee may possess proprietary technical information, pricing data, proposal materials, customer information, source code, business strategies, or information concerning a government program. If
As September 30 approaches, government contractors enter one of the busiest periods of the federal procurement calendar. The end of the government’s fiscal year often brings a surge in contracting activity, including new awards, extensions, funding actions, modifications, and efforts to complete performance before appropriated funds expire or become subject to additional limitations.
For contractors
On September 18, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced revisions to its Justice Manual that could have important implications for government contractors facing False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and litigation. The revisions address two issues of particular significance to contractors: the role of agency guidance in FCA enforcement and DOJ’s use of its
On September 14, 2026, the Deputy Secretary of War issued a memorandum, “Fostering One Strong Industrial Base,” directing a sweeping overhaul of how the Department of War (DoW) handles contractor cost and pricing. For contractors long burdened by Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliance, this is worth reading closely.
A federal judge in Massachusetts recently ordered the Department of Defense (DoD) to pay $450,447 in attorneys’ fees to the Association of American Universities (AAU), after finding that DoD’s now-defunct “Rate Cap Policy” was not just unlawful, but never substantially justified in the first place. The August 5, 2026, ruling in Association of American Universities
For federal subcontractors, a prime contractor’s failure to pay or consistent pattern of late payments can quickly become a serious cash-flow problem. However, federal subcontractors typically have several avenues for recovering amounts owed. The right strategy depends heavily on the type of federal contract, the subcontract, whether the government has already paid the prime contractor