OHA: Contractor Learns from Earlier OHA Decision to Show Me the Money on Ostensible Subcontracting Issue

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Annie Birney

Compliance with the ostensible subcontractor rule is essential for companies seeking small business and socioeconomic set-asides. Yet many contractors learn the hard way that there is a difference between simply claiming compliance and proving it.

Earlier this year, we blogged on an SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) decision (here) that examined whether a subcontractor was an ostensible subcontractor or not. Ultimately, the awardee failed to sufficiently demonstrate that its subcontractor was not performing the primary and vital parts of the contract.

In a recent OHA decision, the same parties went head-to-head again for round two, on a different procurement with a different proposal. But this time, one party brought the receipts. In reviewing the proposal, SBA found that the prime contractor had properly outlined its tasks and work in alignment with the solicitation and showed its compliance with the limitations on subcontracting. These two cases work in tandem to help show federal contractors how to demonstrate compliance with the ostensible subcontractor rule.

Overview of Recent Updates to Cybersecurity Requirements Under the CMMC Program (Part 1)

Posted on October 29, 2025 by John Holtz

On September 10, 2025, the Department of Defense (As all the documents we address use the Department of Defense naming, we will go by that to prevent confusion.) (DoD) implemented the acquisition rules for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program at DFARS subpart 204.75. This follows the federal government’s institution of the CMMC program last year (We explored this a bit with a review of the proposed rules some time before that and noted that initial rules have been in place since 2020.) These rules are present at 32 C.F.R. Part 170. Despite these rules having now been in place for a little while, the scope and complexity of the CMMC program can nonetheless be daunting for contractors to deal with. In this first in a series of posts, we will explore the basics of the CMMC program and what it means for you.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: October 20-24, 2025

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Shane McCall

October and November always seem to be a popular conference season in the federal contracting world. Last week attorney-author Greg Weber was in Oklahoma. This week saw Nicole Pottroff visit the GovCon Kansas City 2025 to present on the topic of the Top 21 Legal Mistakes in Federal Government Contracting. It was a great event with a lot of enthusiastic attendees and interesting questions. Thanks to the organizers including the Missouri APEX Accelerator for inviting us to present!

While news of the shutdown is high on the list of articles this week, there were also updates on CMMC, federal hiring and workforce, and a spotlight on the 8(a) Program.

SBA OHA: On Second Thought, Managing Venturer Must Still be in Charge of JV

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Stephanie Ellis

A few months back, we discussed a case at SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals that took a closer look at the actions that a Non-Managing Venturer in a small business joint venture is permitted to have negative control over—that is, those actions which the Non-Managing Venturer’s disapproval can block from happening. It also addressed what happens when a joint venture agreement does not include all of the provisions that the SBA rules require for a mentor-protégé joint venture agreement under the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program to avoid affiliation. Following that decision, the matter was brought to the Court of Federal Claims. Below, we discuss Multimedia Environmental Compliance Group JV v. United States, 178 Fed. Cl. 129 (2025) which covers the COFC’s review of the OHA decision.

That case reaffirmed that just having required control language in a JV isn’t enough, other provisions in the JVA cannot give inordinate control to the Non-Managing Venturer.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: October 13-17, 2025

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Shane McCall

Hello, SmallGovCon readers! It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another Week in Review.

SmallGovCon attorney-author Gregory Weber recently traveled to Oklahoma City this week to attend the ICBS Conference Accelerating Success in Contracting, where he gave a presentation on one of our most requested topics—Legal Updates. A big thank you to the Oklahoma APEX for hosting this event and to everyone who stopped by to connect with Greg!

In other news, SmallGovCon contributor and attorney Annie Birney was recently quoted in a Washington Technology article (see list below) discussing the risks of using AI to draft bid protests—and why that’s not the best route. As always, if you’re facing a bid protest or need legal assistance on a federal government contracting matter, our team is here to help.

Below, we’ve rounded up some insightful articles on the government shutdown and other key issues in federal contracting. Have a great weekend!

FAR 2.0 Update: Part 12 – Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services

Posted on October 15, 2025 by Shane McCall

Many federal contractors have heard about the revamping of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Variously called FAR 2.0, the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, or simply RFO, this project has been undertaken by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council). An executive order got the ball rolling, setting forth the mandate to create FAR 2.0 by October 12, 2025. We wrote about it in our earlier post, and described it as two parallel tracks. Track 1 involves a rewrite into “plain language” and removing non-statutory and unnecessary content. Track 2 involves the development of the non-mandatory guidelines to guide procurement officials.

Our earlier posts regarding the RFO can be found here: Executive Order, Overview of FAR 2.0, FAR Part 6, FAR Part 19.

The revision of the FAR sections has continued over the past few months, with additional proposed revisions being released through September 2025. In this post, we’ll review one proposed revision that seems to make some significant changes to the language: Part 12 – Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services.