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Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remain an important growth strategy for government contractors seeking to expand their contract portfolios, acquire specialized capabilities, enter new markets, and strengthen their competitive positions. As the federal procurement landscape evolves, however, the factors that drive successful transactions are changing. Buyers must evaluate not only traditional financial metrics and commercial synergies, but also contract performance risk, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity obligations, security clearances, and the operational consequences of integrating a government contracting business.…

On October 13, 2026, the Army issued Amendment 0011 to the Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services (MAPS) solicitation, W15P7T-26-R-A006, extending the proposal due date to 11:59:59 a.m. local time on November 12, 2026. For a procurement with a $50 billion ceiling, this amendment is not a minor housekeeping update — it introduces a…

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently published two Federal Register notices that together represent the most sweeping rewrite of small business size standards since SBA adopted NAICS as its organizing framework in 2000. The first is a proposed rule (RIN 3245–AI67, Docket No. SBA–2026–0199) setting new size standards for 338 industry groups and industries. The…

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…

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…

In Strategi Consulting, LLC v. United States, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims recently held that a prior Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II awardee can bring a bid protest when an agency declines to award it Phase III work and instead routes that work to other contractors through existing task orders —…

What happens when a mentor-protégé joint venture fractures before a federal contract is awarded — and the mentor company that supplied all of the experience and past performance tries to protest the resulting contract award? The United States Court of Federal Claims answered that question decisively in IBSS v. United States, dismissing the bid…

A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims delivers an important — and sobering — message to small businesses competing for federal innovation funding: Historical ties to foreign countries of concern can be sufficient, standing alone, to disqualify a company from receiving a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award, even when those ties…

The U.S. Small Business Administration published a significant proposed rule on June 11, 2026, that would fundamentally reshape how individuals qualify for the Section 8(a) Business Development Program. The rule, appearing at 91 Fed. Reg. 35433, proposes to eliminate the race-based rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage that has governed 8(a) eligibility for nearly four…

A suspension notice from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) can have immediate and significant consequences for a participant in the 8(a) Business Development Program. While a suspension is not the same as a final termination, it typically halts a firm’s ability to receive new 8(a) contract awards and may jeopardize its continued participation in…