GSA Quietly Raises the Cybersecurity Bar for Contractors Handling CUI
Article by: Steffanie Lee, Associate On January 5, 2026, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) issued CIO-IT Security-21-112 Revision 1, a procedural guide establishing new requirements for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (“CUI”) in nonfederal contractor systems. While not promulgated as a FAR rule, the guide establishes a mandatory approval framework that contracting officers may apply...
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SBA Issues Suspension Notices to 8(a) Participants That Failed to Timely Respond to Data Call With Complete Responses: What 8(a) Participants Need to Know
SBA Acts Quickly and Issues Suspension Notices On January 21, 2026, just two days after the deadline for all 8(a) Participants to respond to a comprehensive audit (often referred to as the “8(a) Data Call”), the SBA issued Notices of Suspension to 8(a) firms for apparent failure to submit all required documentation in response...
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Protests Based on Impaired Objectivity Organizational Conflict of Interests (“OCI”) Continue to Find Success at GAO
In Solutions71, LLC: B-423671.2, GAO sustained the third impaired objectivity OCI protest within the last six months. GAO’s decision in Solutions71 joins Castro & Company, LLC: B- 423689 and DirectViz Solutions, LLC:B- 423366; B-423366.3; B-423366.4 in what has become an increasingly successful protest ground. What is an Impaired Objectivity OCI? An impaired objectivity OCI...
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GAO Sustains Protest Over CIA’s Faulty Cost Realism Evaluation
In a recent bid protest decision, Markon LLC, B-423767-.4, December 12, 2025, the Government Accountability Officer (GAO) delivered a pointed reminder about the limits of agency discretion in cost realism evaluations. In this case, which involved a solicitation for business operations, information technology engineering support, and business enterprise modernization services, the Central Intelligence Agency...
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What Federal Contractors Should Know About the Government Shutdown
Those of us who have spent time working in—or with—the federal government over the past several decades know that government shutdowns are not entirely uncommon. There have actually been a total of 21 government shutdowns over the past 50 years, with the last occurring in 2019 and the longest lasting 35 days. By the...
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GAO Decision Reminds Protesters They Cannot Delay Filing Until “Perfect Knowledge” of Protest Grounds
A recent GAO protest decision, Wright Brothers Aero, Inc., B-423326.2, July 7, 2025, provides contractors with a helpful reminder of the risks posed by delaying a protest, even if the contractor believes that they do not “definitively” know of a basis for protest. GAO’s Bid Protest Regulations contain strict rules regarding timeliness, and disappointed...
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