rulemaking | The Contracting Education Academy

October 18, 2019 By cs

Executive orders issued to combat ‘bureaucratic abuse’ by ‘rogue agencies’

President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders last week that the White House said were meant to curtail what it views as “abuses” of American citizens by federal agencies.

The orders deal with what the administration said is a federal bureaucracy that is “running roughshod” over individuals’ and companies’ legal and constitutional rights: they demand that agencies increase transparency in their regulatory and enforcement processes and reduce what the White House said is an overreliance on informal rulemaking.

Both executive orders address the Administrative Procedure Act. The administration said agencies too often use informal guidance as a work-around to the notice and comment processes the APA demands. So going forward, agencies will have to treat all guidance documents they issue, or have published before, as non-legally-binding.

Until now, the White House said, agencies have sometimes used guidance as a stand-in for formal regulations.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/agency-oversight/2019/10/trump-administration-issues-orders-to-combat-bureaucratic-abuse-by-rogue-agencies/

August 22, 2019 By cs

A ban on Chinese tech is on the books — are feds ready?

Federal agencies have less than a week to update their upcoming and in-process contracts to include provisions that prohibit telecommunications equipment or services — or components of equipment or services — that are produced by Huawei Technologies Company, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company or Dahua Technology Company.

The interim rule added to the Federal Acquisition Regulation Aug. 7 by the Department of Defense, General Services Administration and NASA notified agencies that they have until Aug. 13 to update their acquisitions to reflect the prohibition of products that are produced by companies with suspected links to the Chinese government.

The rule change is not unexpected, as the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act initially codified the prohibition on such acquisitions, but the new rule formally implements such requirements for federal agencies.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/2019/08/08/a-ban-on-chinese-tech-is-on-the-books-are-feds-ready

December 21, 2018 By AMK

Hard-nosed Pentagon negotiator removed from job

Trump administration officials are removing the Pentagon’s top weapon buying negotiator, who racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel costs and pushed a controversial plan to slow payments to defense contractors, Defense One has learned.

**Shay D. Assad, Director, DoD’s Defense Pricing and Contracting Initiatives**

Shay Assad, a senior Defense Department bureaucrat, is being reassigned to a post in Massachusetts, one unconnected to the contract negotiating team he has led for seven years, according to current and former defense officials familiar with the decision.

In the coming weeks, Assad will be moved from his position as director of defense pricing and contracting initiatives to a lateral position within the Defense Contract Management Agency in the Boston area, current and former officials said.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018/12/shay-assad/153591

August 16, 2016 By AMK

DoD issues final rule to avoid counterfeit electronics

The Defense Department amended its acquisition rulebook to clarify contractors’ roles in keeping counterfeit electronics out of critical defense systems.

And fake electronics have been a problem. A 2012 Senate Armed Services Committee investigation found 1,800 cases of counterfeit electronic parts in military equipment and named China as the dominant supplier. Though DoD has since improved its ability to trace parts to the original manufacturer, a 2016 Government Accountability Office report states, “the DoD supply chain is vulnerable to the risk of counterfeit parts — which can have serious consequences.”

The Defense Acquisition Regulation Supplement final rule, posted and effective Aug. 2, 2016, focuses on the careful selection of suppliers and verifying the authenticity of electronic parts.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2016/08/dod-issues-final-rule-avoid-counterfeit-electronics/130445/

July 1, 2016 By AMK

Little-noticed interim rule overshadows two Supreme Court procurement decisions

The cost of False Claims Act incidents could double. But nobody seems to know that.

The “Rule of Two” is mandatory for the Veterans Affairs Department no matter how well they are doing in meeting their small business goals.

When vendors sign an invoice and send it to the government for payment, they are acknowledging they have met the requirements under the contract.

These were the major outcomes from two cases decided last week by the nation’s highest court.

While both these cases will have long-lasting impacts on the federal procurement community, a little-known rule by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is what contractors really should be paying attention to over the summer.

The RRB issued an interim final rule May 2 to nearly double the cost per incident under the False Claims Act (FCA).

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2016/06/little-noticed-interim-rule-overshadows-two-supreme-court-procurement-decisions/

President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders last week that the White House said were meant to curtail what it views as “abuses” of American citizens by federal agencies.

Trump administration officials are removing the Pentagon’s top weapon buying negotiator, who racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel costs and pushed a controversial plan to slow payments to defense contractors, Defense One has learned.

The Defense Department amended its acquisition rulebook to clarify contractors’ roles in keeping counterfeit electronics out of critical defense systems.

The cost of False Claims Act incidents could double. But nobody seems to know that.

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