The Weekly Update recaps recent legislative and regulatory updates affecting
government contractors and commercial businesses.
If you have questions concerning this content, please email marketing@pilieromazza.com.
______________________________________________
Trump Axes Biden Competition Order and Eases Rocket Regs, Law360
President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening revoked an expansive Biden-era executive order that aimed to boost competition across the U.S. economy, lower prices for consumers and increase pay for workers, while issuing his own order to ease regulations on the commercial space industry to boost American rocket launches. Read more here (subscription required).
House, Senate Seek to Overhaul How DOD Evaluates Contractors, Federal News Network
Both the House and the Senate want to overhaul how the Defense Department evaluates contractors by getting rid of subjective performance ratings in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System with a “negative-only” reporting system. Read more here.
BGOV OnPoint: Defense Policy Bill Set for Senate Votes, Bloomberg Government
The Senate teed up votes on its $925.8 billion defense authorization bill for fiscal 2026 when lawmakers return from recess the first week in September. The measure (S. 2296) would authorize $32 billion more than the Trump administration requested for defense programs, including for more shipbuilding and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. By contrast, a draft House measure (H.R. 3838) would authorize $892.6 billion, which is largely in line with the administration’s request. When combined with resources provided under the GOP reconciliation bill (Public Law 119-21), defense spending could top $1 trillion — a first in the nation’s history. Read more here (subscription required).
Judge Orders White House Budget Office to Reveal Information About Spending Decisions, Government Executive
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit mandated that the Office of Management and Budget restore a website detailing federal spending timelines. The White House budget office has until Friday to republish a website detailing the pace at which it plans to spend money approved by Congress, following a federal court ruling. Read more here.
Upcoming Government Contract Presentations
PM WEBINAR: Key Insights for GSA Schedule Contracting, August 26, 2025, Jon Williams, Lauren Brier
PM WEBINAR: How the Boards of Contract Appeals Work—And Why It Matters for Your Bottom Line, September 9, 2025, Lauren Brier, Josie Farinelli
TRAINING: Unlocking the Secrets of Debriefings, Government Evaluation of Proposals and Protests, September 11, 2025, Katherine B. Burrows, Eric Valle
PM WEBINAR: Overcoming the Compliance Minefield of Cost-Reimbursement Contracts, Part 1: Preparing for a Surge in DCAA Audit Activity, September 16, 2025, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV
PM WEBINAR: The Buy American Act and Trade Agreements Act: What Government Contractors Need to Know, September 17, 2025, Jacqueline K. Unger, Abigail “Abby” Finan
PM WEBINAR: Key Changes in GSA Schedule Contracting: What You Need to Know, October 2, 2025, Jon Williams
TRAINING: Joint Venture and Mentor-Protege Bidding Strategies, October 2, 2025, Peter B. Ford, Meghan F. Leemon
PM WEBINAR: Managing the Financial Impact of Tariffs on Your Government Contract, October 7, 2025, Jacqueline K. Unger, Ryan Boonstra
PM WEBINAR: Overcoming the Compliance Minefield of Cost-Reimbursement Contracts, Part 2: Mastering DCAA Audits in Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee Contracts, October 14, 2025, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV
PM WEBINAR: Avoiding Common Teaming and Subcontracting Pitfalls, October 16, 2025, Jon Williams
TRAINING: Past Performance: How to Use Yours, Benefit from Others’, and Defend It from Attacks, October 28, 2025, Daniel Figuenick, III, Abigail “Abby” Finan
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Model Deviation Text for FAR Parts 8 and 12
On August 14, the FAR Council released the model deviation text for the following FAR Parts:
- FAR Part 8, Required Sources of Supplies and Services. FAR Part 8 was restructured to more closely follow the acquisition lifecycle, streamline the mandatory source guidance, and mandate the use of Best-in-Class (BIC) contracts. FAR Part 8 moves the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) ordering procedures to the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR). This change is intended to clarify contractors’ access to government supply sources and highlight programs such as AbilityOne and Federal Prison Industries. The GSA memorandum and class deviation fully incorporating the same into all GSA procurements are available here and will be effective November 3, 2025. Informal feedback is due October 14, 2025.
- General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) Class Deviation, Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Program Ordering Procedures. This Class Deviation was issued in conjunction with the FAR Part 8 model deviation and GSA’s memorandum incorporating the same. This Class Deviation moves FSS ordering guidance from FAR Part 8.4 to GSAR Subpart 538.71. This change is intended to simplify the acquisition process and enhance flexibility for federal buyers. New procedures require obtaining at least three quotes, documenting award decisions, and using BIC contracts. This Class Deviation also clarifies the requirements for sole-source justification, contractor teaming, and disputes. Provisions related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were removed as obsolete. The full Class Deviation is available here and will be effective November 3, 2025.
- FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services. FAR Part 12 was restructured into process-oriented subparts. FAR Part 12’s rewrite introduces clearer guidance for simplified acquisition procedures up to $7.5 million and encourages the use of requests for quotations followed by a purchase order, and allows broader discretion during evaluation. Construction can now be procured commercially. This FAR Part also mandates, if available, the use of priority sources like FSS and Governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs). The GSA memorandum and class deviation fully incorporating the same into all GSA procurements are available here and will be effective November 3, 2025. Informal feedback is due October 14, 2025.
Department of Labor (DOL) News Release: US DOL Announces Availability of $30M in Grants to Train American Workers for Jobs in High Demand, Emerging Industries
On August 11, DOL announced the availability of up to $30 million in funding in the Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund grant program to accelerate workforce innovation and address critical workforce needs across the country, which will be administered by the Employment and Training Administration. These grants will provide outcome-based reimbursements to employers for providing training in high-demand and emerging industries that align with President Trump’s Executive Order 14278, Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future, Executive Order 14629, Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance, and America’s AI Action Plan. Read more here.
Unions’ Battle for Survival Hits New Wave With Trump Termination of Bargaining Agreements, The Hill
Federal employee unions are bracing for battle after courts lifted a series of injunctions that were stalling the Trump administration’s plans to end collective bargaining rights at a number of agencies. Read more here.
Layoffs Canceled At Federal Contractor Oversight Office, But Questions Remain About Agency Restructuring, Government Executive
The Labor Department office that oversees federal contractors seemed to be set for near elimination, but the National Council of Field Labor Locals, an American Federation of Government Employees-affiliated union that represents DOL employees, said on Tuesday that widespread layoffs at the agency will no longer take place. Employees at the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs received a notice that they will get new job assignments rather than be laid off. Read more here.
Trump Administration Nixes Union Contracts at FEMA, USCIS, Food Safety Agencies, Government Executive
The Trump administration this week has continued its push to terminate its contracts with federal employee unions at agencies across the federal government, as labor leaders warn the actions will degrade the government’s services to the public. Read more here.
EPA Becomes the Second Federal Agency to Cancel Its Union Contracts, Government Executive
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday informed union officials that it would terminate the contracts it signed with various labor partners effective immediately, making it the second agency to fully implement President Trump’s March executive order stripping most federal workers of their collective bargaining rights. Read more here.
Upcoming Labor & Employment Presentations
PM WEBINAR: Multijurisdictional Employers, Part 3: Best Practices for Paid Sick Leave and Family Leave, September 4, 2025, Nichole D. Atallah, Sara N. Strosser
CONFERENCE: Impact of the Trump Administration on Government Contracts, September 12, 2025, Nichole D. Atallah
TRAINING: Labor Rules & Regulations: Federal Market Compliance, October 22, 2025, Nichole D. Atallah
General Services Administration (GSA) News Release:
- GSA Celebrates Major Milestones in FedRAMP Cloud Authorization Reform: On August 11, GSA announced a major breakthrough in the transformation of the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), celebrating unprecedented progress in streamlining cloud security authorizations across the federal government. Read more here.
- GSA Launches USAi to Advance White House “America’s AI Action Plan”: On August 14, GSA announced the launch of USAi, a secure generative artificial intelligence evaluation suite that enables federal agencies to experiment with and adopt artificial intelligence at scale—faster, safer, and at no cost to them. Now available at USAi.gov, the platform puts powerful tools such as chat-based AI, code generation, and document summarization directly into the hands of government users within a trusted, standards-aligned environment. Read more here.
GSA Activity Feed Announcement, GSA eBuy improvements coming on August 14
On August 11, GSA announced that on August 14th GSA eBuy will deploy brand new data elements and quality of life improvements for both buyers and sellers. Buyers will be able to indicate whether they are requesting quotes (RFQs), proposals (RFPs) or information (RFIs) and request numbers will have updated prefixes to show the type of request (e.g. RFI1234567, or RFP8901234). Sellers will be able to see this additional information and will be able to more accurately match what buyers are requesting. The full announcement is here.
Executive Order, Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking
On August 7, the President released an Executive Order aimed at improving the process of Federal grantmaking while ending offensive waste of tax dollars. The full EO is available here.
Latest CISA Cyber Guidance Urges Organizations to Inventory OT Assets, Federal News Network
CISA on Wednesday published “Foundations for OT Cybersecurity: Asset Inventory Guidance for Owners and Operators.” CISA developed the guidance in conjunction with other agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Security Agency, the FBI, and several international partners. The new guidance is intended to help deal with what some cyber experts say is a rising concern: a lack of visibility into threats to operational technology. CISA’s latest guidance on inventorying OT assets comes as cyber experts warn many critical infrastructure organizations “don’t even know what they have.” Read more here.