On January 7, an Executive Order titled “Prioritizing the Warfighter in Defense Contracting” was issued. Its message to the defense industrial base is clear: get your act together – start performing defense contracts and delivering on time—or else. The “or else” is significant. If the Secretary of Defense, at his sole discretion, determines that a contractor has...

The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) used the law to hack a Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC) cybersecurity research lab for doing cybersecurity research for the Department of Defense[1] (DoD) for allegedly not having cybersecurity controls in place as required by its contracts and telling DoD it did. Read to learn more about what happened....

Prepare for Modifications: Since schedules were likely disrupted for many contracts and subcontracts you will likely need a modification to your performance schedule which in turn may impact your price and other SOW more generally. And, don’t forget we now have a revolutionized FAR so, that may result in mods as well. Request an Equitable...

In a year that saw executive orders coming out rapid fire, a FAR revolution and a government shutdown, there is some good news. A Pentagon memo from earlier this year titled Directing Modern Software Acquisition to Maximize Lethality may simplify and expedite the process for companies to have the Department of Defense buy their software....

September 30, 2025, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program lapsed which is really sad because SBIR percolates innovation and small business growth. As of now, SBIR, along with many other programs and funding to run the government, are dead or frozen because of the government shutdown. As for SBIR, it is caught up in...

Trump & Biden Agree: AI Exports Should Be Controlled U.S. export regulations are fundamentally about protecting national security. By controlling exports the U.S. aims to keep adversaries rogue entities and rogue persons from using American innovation to develop cyber capabilities or weapons that can be used against the U.S., allies or to generally cause harm....

Non-traditional defense contractor sounds like a start-up that has decided to sell its cutting-edge tech to the Department of Defense when it has never before done so. That is not the case. In fact, some very traditional defense contractors are actually “non-traditional defense contractors.” That statement seems to make no sense. Let me explain. The...

U.S. technology and products are ending up in North Korean missiles which are ending up in Russia which Russia then uses in its war against the Ukraine.  One does not need to be a knowledgeable on U.S. export control laws to reach the conclusion that this fact demonstrates that U.S. companies with export-controlled items and...

What Happens In a Shut Down It will happen fast! DoD guidance on the shutdown says it will take them about a half a day to shut down. Government facilities will be closed. The Government will define employees as essential or as non-essential. Essential government employees will be expected to continue working. Non-essential government employees...

The Government Has Banned TikTok The U.S. Government has banned from Government IT systems and Government devices, the TikTok app, or any application created or sold by ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok. The ban applies Government contractors and subcontractors to some degree as well. The ban was issued because of U.S. Government concerns that...