The Weekly Update recaps recent legislative and regulatory updates affecting
government contractors and commercial businesses.
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Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council Guidance
- Agency Implementation of Executive Order (EO) 14402, Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting: On July 1, the FAR Council published guidance and updated the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) to update RFO part 16, Types of Contracts, requiring agencies to update their class deviations by July 15, 2026. This guidance implements EO 14402 by establishing fixed-price contracts as the default and preferred method of procurement. Read more here.
- You Said, We Did: Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO): The FAR Council released tables highlighting changes made in the most recent proposed rules in response to the almost 1,600 comments, primarily from industry (80%), but also from industry associations (7%) and federal government employees (13%) on the RFO model texts. While all public comments received may not be reflected, the tables highlight examples of key policy updates that resulted from some of the public feedback submitted via acquisition.gov. The tables are organized by the RFO-related FAR rules and will be continuously updated as the remaining RFO-related rules are published over the coming months. The tables are available here.
Department of Defense (DOD) Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR): Modifications to Printed Circuit Board Acquisition Restrictions
On July 2, DOD published an ANPR and request for comments on the development of a revision to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement sections of the National Defense Authorization Acts for Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022 that address the prohibition on the acquisition of covered printed circuit boards from a covered nation. The ANPR is available here. Comments close August 31, 2026.
Department of War (DOW) Memorandum: Class Deviation—Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul Part 40, Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS) Part 240
On June 29, DOW issued a class deviation, effective immediately, revising the class deviation issued on December 18, 2025. This revision implements part of section 805 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 and section 851 of the NDAA for FY 2025. Both section 805 and section 851 prohibit certain contracts with Chinese military companies. This revision also establishes new subpart 240.70, Prohibited Sources. Read more here.
New Law Barring DoD Contractors from Retaining Certain Outside Consultants Goes Into Effect, Federal News Network
Defense contractors face a new restriction as a provision from the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill takes effect, prohibiting the Pentagon from contracting with companies that retain consultants lobbying for certain Chinese military-linked firms. Read more here.
House Conservatives Block Rule Advancing NDAA, Stalling Key Bills, The Hill
A band of conservative hardliners blocked a procedural rule that would have teed up debate and final votes on a slate of legislation, dealing a blow to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as he aimed to advance the annual defense authorization bill this week. Read more here.
Defense Manufacturing Emerges as Pentagon Bottleneck, Federal News Network
After years of concerted effort by the Pentagon and Congress to cut through federal red tape and foster closer ties with the commercial sector to speed up military procurement, the defense industry is turning to another problem: how to deliver those orders fast. Manufacturing — not funding — is becoming the biggest hurdle to getting new technology into troops’ hands faster. Read more here.
Marine Corps Inks First Contract for Autonomous Ground Vehicle Production, Defense One
A nearly $20 million contract aims to integrate autonomous ground vehicles in the service’s ground-based air defense missions. The Marine Corps will pay Overland AI $19.7 million to produce more than a dozen autonomous ground vehicles by early 2027. Read more here.
Pentagon Launches ‘War Force’ Initiative to Onboard Tech Talent, NextGov/FCW
The Office of Personnel Management and the Pentagon jointly announced the launch of a new initiative to bring top software engineering talent into the Department of Defense, part of a broader governmentwide push to hire more skilled technologists. Read more here.
Agencies Award $179B to Small Firms in 2025, Down from 2024, Federal News Network
Despite all the turmoil in federal contracting over the last year, agencies surpassed the 23% governmentwide goal for awards to small businesses in fiscal 2025. The Small Business Administration said today that agencies awarded 28% of all prime contracts to small firms last year. While agencies reached the overall goal, the total dollars going to small businesses dropped to $179 billion last year from $183.5 billion in 2024. Read more here.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Contract Spending Down Billions From Recent Years’ Levels, Bloomberg Government
The primary agency responsible for national preparedness and disaster response has spent 92% less on procurement in the first three quarters of fiscal 2026 than in the same period last year, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis. One month into the Atlantic hurricane season and nearing the end of the third fiscal quarter, FEMA is reporting $310 million in contract spending. That’s billions behind recent fiscal years. Read more here (subscription required).
Poll Finds Bipartisan Support for Tighter AI Regulation, The Hill
There is bipartisan support for tighter regulation on AI, according to a new poll. In the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute (AIPI) poll, 68 percent of respondents said they would be in favor of the government making “a formal review process for the most advanced AI models before they can be widely released.” Read more here.
Upcoming Presentations
WEBINAR: GovCon 101: Small Business Programs, July 13, 2026, Meghan Leemon
PM WEBINAR: DCAA Presents: Elements of an Adequate Proposal, July 14, 2026, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV; Peggy Galindo, Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA); Paul Calabrese, GRF CPAs & Advisors
WEBINAR: Legal Strategies & Capture Planning, July 17, 2026, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV
CONFERENCE: Using JVs to Win Work with GSA & Beyond, July 22, 2026, Meghan F. Leemon
Union Accuses Treasury and HHS of Neglecting Telework Requests from Employees with Disabilities, Government Executive
The Treasury and Health and Human Services departments are breaking federal rules by largely ignoring reasonable accommodation requests from employees with disabilities, the National Treasury Employees Union alleged in a lawsuit filed. The lawsuit highlights federal employees who have been waiting for more than a year to hear back about their reasonable accommodation requests as well as individuals whose need to telework ended before the agency responded. Read more here.
EEOC Scraps Long-Standing Affirmative Action Guidance, Law360
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Tuesday it has rescinded several decades-old guidance documents relating to voluntary workplace affirmative action plans, concluding the previous positions were out of step with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Read more here (subscription required).
Upcoming Presentations
CONFERENCE: DEI Crackdown: What Small Business Contractors Must Do Now, July 21, 2026, Sarah L. Nash, Matthew E. Feinberg
PM WEBINAR: Employee Organizing 101: What Employers Need to Know Before, During, and After Employees Organize, July 29, 2026, Sarah L. Nash, Georgianne “Georgi” Kokenis
Contract Claims 101: Common Construction Appeal Theories, Part 6, PilieroMazza Blog, Lauren Brier, Caitlin Trevillyan
While Parts 4 and 5 of this series explored both common and less common theories available to contractors pursuing claims against the federal government, many of which can arise in the construction context, there are more nuanced theories that often intersect with those more familiar claims involving changes, delays, or defective specifications, presenting distinct legal and evidentiary considerations for construction contractors. Success typically depends on a contractor’s ability to develop a well-documented record demonstrating how specific government actions, omissions, representations, or superior knowledge directly caused the additional costs, delays, inefficiencies, or performance impacts for which recovery is sought. In this blog, we focus on several of these nuanced theories that frequently emerge when unforeseen site conditions, government conduct, schedule disruptions, or performance requirements materially alter the parties’ bargain, and we identify steps to mitigate impact. Read more here.
Upcoming Presentations
PM WEBINAR: Contract Claims 101: Common and Uncommon Claims and Appeals, July 15, 2026, Lauren Brier, Caitlin Trevillyan, Jonathan “Jon” R. Neri, Ryan Boonstra
Upcoming Presentations
CONFERENCE: GovCon Mergers and Acquisitions: Plan Today for a Stronger Tomorrow, July 21, 2026, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Expands Enterprise Software Push Across DoD, Federal News Network
Efforts to adopt enterprise software are ramping up across the Defense Department as officials caution the operational environment will soon be too complex for the armed forces to succeed without more shared technology. DISA is working on four new multiyear contracts, known as Joint Enterprise License Agreements (JELA), David White, the JELA program manager at DISA, said at a recent AFCEA DC event on acquisition reform outside Washington. He signaled a break is likely ahead for the key initiative to consolidate the military’s core commercial software and cybersecurity products into cheaper packages that anyone can use. Read more here.
General Services Administration’s (GSA) Centralization Push is a Return to Its Roots, Not Just a Trump Priority, Government Executive
GSA’s push to centralize government buying is as much a return to its roots as it is a Trump administration initiative, according to one of the leading architects of the consolidation. Laura Stanton, acting commissioner for GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, gave a bit of a history lesson during remarks at the GovExec-produced SAP NOW event on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. GSA started in 1949 as part of a series of recommendations from the Hoover Commission. Read more here.
AUDITS & INVESTIGATIONS / FALSE CLAIMS ACT / WHITE COLLAR DEFENSE
BGOV Bill Analysis: H.R. 8873, Pandemic Fraud Prosecution, Bloomberg Government
The statute of limitations for prosecuting pandemic unemployment fraud would be extended to 10 years, from five, under H.R. 8873, which would also establish a task force to recover fraudulent pandemic funds. The bill would apply to criminal charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, and false claims civil actions. The existing statute of limitations for the COVID-related crimes is generally five years and began expiring in March 2025. Read more here (subscription required).
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