By: Margaret M. Cassidy & Andrew Swick 1. Overview The Department of Defense (DoD) and Anthropic demonstrated what a battle contract negotiations can be. Negotiations between the two blew up in a spectacular way on February 27, 2026, when Secretary of Defense Hegseth publicly labeled Anthropic a supply‑chain risk and ordered businesses in the DoD supply chain to cease commercial activity with the company. President Trump then directed all federal...
DoD just cancelled Anthropic, government style. To do so, it used a procurement law directed to the military to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk. [Here is The Defense Salon article discussing this.] That is not the only law permitting the federal government can cancel a contractor. The Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA) (41 U.S.C. §§ 1321–1328; 41 U.S.C. § 4713) also allows for the federal government to...
The final part of our FY26 NDAA review examines changes related to how the U.S. defense ecosystem operates globally while protecting sensitive U.S. technologies and mitigating the risk of adversaries impacting U.S. national security. We organized our review into five subcategories: ITAR AUKUS Exemption Implications Streamlining Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Reforming Technology Transfer and Foreign Disclosure Limiting Outbound Investment – COINS Act Codification New Foreign Partner Acquisition Office Bottom Line:...
Businesses new to federal government contracting understand that the government requires some type of background check on its leaders or others in the business. Beyond that, their understanding gets a bit murky. As a result, those new to federal government contracting worry about what will bubble up during the required background check. There is reason not to worry too much unless the contractor is seeking security clearances for executives and...
Part 2 of our FY26 NDAA reviews shifts from industrial base investment to changes the Department of Defense’s (DoD) acquisition process, organized into five subcategories: When Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Apply Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA) Threshold Changes Compliance Exemptions for Nontraditional Defense Contractors Encouraging Commercial Purchases Cybersecurity and Industrial Security Requirements Bottom Line: The FY26 NDAA lowers barriers for commercial companies and nontraditional defense contractors to become part of...
