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Latest — Sep 20, 2023

Are Drone Guns Commercial Products?

Part 2 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations is where you can find the "definitions" of most things in federal procurement; it's an underappreciated part of the FAR! Some of the definitions in Part 2 are extremely specific things ("Energy-efficient standby power devices") and others involve broad, abstract concepts ("National defense"

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MAC protests are all the rage

I am going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction: when NASA issues its long awaited solicitation for SEWP VI—a 10-year multiple-award contract (MAC) for value-added resellers—it will be protested. How about that for a bold prediction? Last week, NASA issued a draft of

Negative control and buddy-cop films

A stated goal of the US procurement system is to encourage small businesses to sell to the government. Many efforts support that goal. For example, the federal government sponsors "APEX Accelerators" to provide technical assistance to small businesses that are trying to win government contracts.[1] Or, as another example,

Are labor hours that risky?

If you did a quick poll of federal employees on whether they think that government contracting has a culture of "risk avoidance" or whether it has a culture of "risk management," I'd put the over-under around 90% for risk avoidance. Give or take, it's fair to say that the perception

The Coast Guard meets "fixit culture"

Earlier today on NPR's morning edition, there was a story about a Netherlands-based e-bike manufacturer called VanMoof that went bankrupt. Apparently, these e-bikes are a "hipster accessory both in Europe and in the United States" that have become "famous for their sleek design and ease of use through a smartphone

The 8(a) program is on pause

There are many goals of government procurement and many of them are at odds with each other. For example, society values competition in government procurement. But competition can slow things down. Similarly, society values efficiency with taxpayer dollars. But the most efficient thing may not be especially transparent. These goals

Smokey Bear Baseballs

Programming note: Hang on. I go on vacation and I come back and the SBA shut down the 8(a) program?!?! I guess I'll talk about that next week because, yeesh, there's a lot to cover there. And I'm still warming back up after vacay. So today we talk baseballs.

XOSBs get an A

Programming note: I am off the next two weeks for summer vacation! We are in the midst of the final quarter of fiscal year 2023, during which acquisition professionals everywhere are scrambling to obligate end-of-year funding. So what better time, I guess, to look a whole year backward at how

CIO-SP4, Scooby Doo edition: the case of the hidden Excel columns

The federal IT community is having a moment right now when it comes to Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (known by the delightful abbreviation "GWACs"). After a blockbuster decision earlier this year that affected a handful of GWACs[1], folks were on pins and needles waiting for the outcome of a whole

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Anyone who's ever dealt with government contracts knows that the most stressful part of a proposal is the submission process. There's a palpable fear that you'll send the wrong version of some important document that had been edited a million times over. Or that you'll accidentally send the proposal to