Skip to Content

Friday Flash 03/21/2025

March 20, 2025

The Appetite for Procurement Reform has Never been Greater, so What’s on the Menu? 

This week the George Mason University’s Greg and Camile Baroni Center for Government Contracting (the Baroni Center) hosted a webinar, “The New Administration Implications and Opportunities for Small Business.” The webinar provided attendees with an engaging, informative discussion of the new federal market and what it means for businesses, especially small business, competing in the federal market.  Among the presenters was Emily Murphy, a Senior Fellow at the Baroni Center and former General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator. Emily shared her valuable insights throughout the webinar, including the observation that she had not seen this great of an appetite for procurement reform in over 30 years. 

The last great period of procurement reform was the 1990’s which gave us the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA) and the Clinger-Cohen Act. It was also a period of acquisition innovation and experimentation. GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program was radically reformed during this period with the result of increasing competition, and enhanced value for customer agencies through the commercial market. Unfortunately, since that time, we have seen a steady, almost glacial-like, relentless growth in procurement regulations of all types and varieties (e.g. the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), agency supplements, operational guidance, manuals, directives, and memoranda).  Given the appetite for procurement reform, let’s look at a procurement reform menu.   

For “STARTERS” here are some GSA MAS items:

  • Rescind FAS Policy and Procedure (PAP) 2021-05, Evaluation of FSS Pricing
  • Eliminate the Price Reduction Clause (PRC)
  • Add cost-reimbursement capability to the MAS program
  • Address Other Direct Costs for the MAS program via a FAR level clause/guidance
  • Review and further consolidate the Special Item Numbers (SINs) to reduce complexity and better reflect the commercial market

For “STARTERS” for the FAR:  

  • Review and eliminate the over 90 FAR and DFARS clauses that currently apply to commercial item contracts.   
  • Eliminate the preference for multiple award Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) in FAR 8.4.  There is no such statutory requirement.
  • Consistent with the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, ensure that the decision to set-aside orders under multiple award contracts is left solely to the discretion of the contracting officer. 

For “ENTREES”: 

  • Review, reduce, and streamline the FAR, focusing on the statutory foundation and limiting/eliminating non-statutory guidance to the maximum extent practicable.
  • Study The FoRGED Act, as it contains several provisions that would reform aspects of procurement, including best value language for the MAS program and a provision providing greater flexibility for cloud contracting.    
  • Address contract duplication across government.  There are too many contracts covering the same products and services.  A balanced portfolio of contracts will ensure competition and choice while reducing unnecessary overhead and management costs. 

These are just some of the items on the menu for procurement reform. The Coalition has received over 40 recommendations for the Government Procurement Efficiency List (GPEL). We are gratified by the response. The GPEL recommendations have been added to the Coalition’s reform agenda for 2025. 

Regarding “DESSERTS,” embracing, empowering, and implementing procurement reform will provide a significant return on investment in terms of savings, value, innovation, and performance in support of the federal mission.      

Executive Order Centralizing Contracting

On March 20, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO), “Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement.” The EO directs that within 60 days, agencies should submit proposals to the General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator “to have GSA conduct domestic procurement with respect to common goods and services for the agency, where permitted by law.” In addition, within 90 days of the EO, the GSA Administrator “shall submit a comprehensive plan to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for GSA to procure common goods and services across the domestic components of the Government, where permitted by law.”

Within 30 days of the EO, “the Director of OMB shall designate the [GSA] Administrator as the executive agent for all Government-wide acquisition contracts for information technology.  The Administrator, in consultation with the Director of OMB, shall defer or decline the executive agent designation for Government-wide acquisition contracts for information technology when necessary to ensure continuity of service or as otherwise appropriate.  The Administrator shall further, on an ongoing basis and consistent with applicable law, rationalize Government-wide indefinite delivery contract vehicles for information technology for agencies across the Government, including as part of identifying and eliminating contract duplication, redundancy, and other inefficiencies.” 

Coalition Submits Comments on OCI, CUI, MAC Small Business Participation, & MAC Protests Proposed Rules 

On Monday, the Coalition submitted four sets of comments to the Federal Government on behalf of members.

Proposed Rule: Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition  

The Coalition submitted comments on a proposed rule entitled “Federal Acquisition Regulation: Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition.” This rule implements the 2022 Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act.  

The letter states that while the Coalition generally supports the underlying objective of the proposed rule to promote fair competition and update and clarify Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) risks, requirements, and guidance, the rule as currently drafted is both overly broad and overly burdensome. 

Proposed Rule: Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)   

The Coalition submitted comments on a proposed rule entitled “Federal Acquisition Regulation: Controlled Unclassified Information.”   

This rule aims to implement the cyber-security requirements in NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2, for contractors storing or transmitting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), as required in 32 CFR part 2002. CUI is defined as information that does not meet the requirements for classification but still requires safeguarding or dissemination controls.   

The letter states that the Coalition strongly supports the underlying objective of the proposed rule to safeguard CUI and harmonize the requirements across agencies. However, unnecessarily burdensome requirements can drive companies out of the Government marketplace, thus hampering agency access to innovation needed to meet their missions and leaving Government less, not more, secure. To address this potential unintended consequence, Coalition members submitted feedback on a list of topics.  

Proposed Rule: Small Business Participation on Certain Multiple-Award Contracts   

The Coalition submitted comments on a proposed rule to issue policy on small business participation on certain multiple-award contracts. Among other things, the proposed rule would mandate application of the small business rule of two in connection with orders against multiple-award contracts.       

In the letter, the Coalition questions whether the proposed rule is consistent with statutory language and Congressional intent, whether the proposed rule will add complexity and litigation risk to the procurement process, whether the proposed rule provides adequate guidance or considers unintended consequences, and whether the premise of the need for the rule is supported by data. 

Proposed Rule: Protests of Orders Under Certain Multiple-Award Contracts   

The Coalition submitted comments on a proposed rule on protests of orders under certain multiple-award contracts. The proposed rule adds text to clarify that a contracting officer’s decision to set aside or not set aside an order for small businesses under a multiple-award contract is not grounds for protest. The rule clarifies that these protests “challenge a discretionary act statutorily committed to agency decision-making and therefore cannot form the basis for a protest seeking to compel an agency to make a different choice.”    

The Coalition supports the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council’s decision to exempt small business rule of two business judgment decisions from protest. However, we question whether the proposed rule as currently drafted will shield these decisions from Federal Court jurisdiction. We also maintain the companion FAR proposed rule on the rule of two (FAR 2023-011) is inconsistent with statutory language and Congressional intent. 

GSA Memo Provides Flexibilities to Support Organizational Changes 

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced that Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) Jeff Koses signed SPE Memo SPE-2025-08, providing flexibilities for the acquisition workforce to support recent organizational changes. The changes include: 

  • Canceling all FY 2025 Procurement Management Reviews (PMRs). 
  • Waiving all FY 2025 Acquisition Review Boards (ARBs) for contract consolidations. 
  • Suspending all GSA unique mandatory acquisition training requirements until further notice. Please note, continuous learning requirements remain in place. 
  • Postponing the requirement for unlimited warrant candidates to hold at least two credentials. 
  • Temporarily extending the timeframe for FAC-COR and FAC-P/PM certification to two years from the date of appointment or assignment. 
  • Expanding traditional acquisition warrants, for the next six months from the date of the SPE memo’s issuance, to execute the following procurement actions pursuant to their current warrant dollar limitations and the direction of their Head of Contracting Activity (HCA): 
    • Leases, including lease administration and outleasing. 
    • Site acquisitions. 
    • Fleet acquisitions. 

The memo also reminds HCAs of their authority to manage workflow and workload. 

GSA Set to Unveil FedRAMP Plan Next Week 

Meritalk reports that GSA is set to unveil its revamp plan for the FedRAMP Program on March 24. The goal of the revamp is to increase the pace of authorizations. Anonymous sources have stated that GSA is considering “shifting responsibilities and workloads for third party assessment organizations (3PAOs) and Federal agencies that act as sponsors for cloud service providers seeking FedRAMP authorizations.” In the sources stated that in addition, the agency is considering shifting the focus to larger scale security issues.  

Earlier this month, GSA made several workforce cuts at FedRAMP, eliminating about 80 contracting positions. FedRAMP currently has 18 full-time Federal employees in its program office.  

NASA SEWP VI Protests Withdrawn 

Washington Technology reports that all National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) SEWP VI protests have been withdrawn at the Government Accountability Office (GAO). This allows NASA to move forward with making awards for the contract vehicle. The protests, which were related to the treatment of small businesses and small business joint ventures, were withdrawn after NASA submitted their response to the protests. SEWP VI proposals were due on February 24, and NASA plans to make awards in June.  

Administration Rescinds Another Set of Executive Orders, Lowers Contractor Minimum Wage 

According to the Administration’s website, the President has rescinded 18 additional executive orders (EOs) and memorandums. The President previously rescinded an initial batch of 78 executive orders and memoranda on January 20. The additional recissions included EO 14026, “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors.” This EO had increased the minimum wage for “those workers working on or in connection with a Federal Government contract” to $15 an hour, calculated based on January 2022 real dollars. This minimum wage, which had risen to $17.75 to match inflation, will no longer apply. The White House’s announcement also noted the recission of EO 14112 which aimed to enhance Tribal self-determination by giving tribes additional control over the Federal funding they are allocated. 

Introducing the “Proud Member” Logo 

The Coalition for Common Sense in Government Procurement is excited to introduce our new “Proud Member” logo, designed exclusively for our member companies. This logo serves as a symbol of your organization’s commitment to promoting common sense in government procurement. 

The logo is available for members to use on websites, marketing materials, and social media to visibly demonstrate your support for the Coalition’s mission and proudly display your membership! 

To download the logo, or if you have any questions about usage guidance or need assistance, please contact Michael Hanafin at mhanafin@thecgp.org.  

Thank you for being a valued member of the Coalition for Common Sense in Government Procurement! 

Senate Survey on Small Business Opportunity in Government Contracting

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IOWA), Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, has published this survey seeking feedback from small businesses and prime contractors regarding their experiences in Federal Government contracting.  The survey emphasizes exploring the relationship between small business subcontractors and large prime contractors. Survey responses are due no later than March 31, 2025.

MAS Refresh 25 Rollout in March 

GSA announced that the Federal Acquisition Service will issue Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Refresh 25 in March. This upcoming refresh primarily implements a trio of EOs: 

The first of these EOs decreed that “Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology.” Refresh 25 excludes any products, services, or solutions that violate this provision from the MAS Program. The second EO removed all non-statutory sustainability requirements. Refresh 25 will remove these non-statutory preferences from the MAS Program. The final EO bans the procurement of paper straws. Products in violation of this ban will be removed from the MAS Program’s scope. The Significant Changes Attachment can be found here. 

Sponsorship Opportunities Now Available for the Spring Training Conference

The Coalition is pleased to announce that sponsorship opportunities are now available for the 2025 Spring Training Conference on June 25-26, to be held at the Fairview Park Marriott in Falls Church, VA! As always, the Coalition’s Spring Training Conference will serve as a unique opportunity to engage with Federal procurement leaders and connect with industry colleagues.    

Benefits of sponsoring the Coalition’s flagship event: 

  • Establish your company as a leader in the industry 
  • Associate your company with a well-known event 
  • Promote your company’s brand 
  • Reach new audiences 
  • Generate quality leads 
  • Showcase your products and services 
  • Network and establish new relationships 

Join our current lineup of sponsors today and show your support for the Coalition! View the Sponsorship Prospectus here.   

Thank you to our current Spring Training Conference Sponsors! 

DoD Finalizing Follow-up Cloud Contract 

Nextgov reports that the Department of Defense (DoD) is working on the follow-up to its $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) cloud contract. The next contract will be named JWCC Next, and will also be multiple award, but “larger scale” than the original JWCC. Currently, DoD is working to finalize JWCC Next’s acquisition strategy and engage with industry and mission partners across the agency. DoD aims to publish a draft request for proposal (RFP) before the end of this year. According to a Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) official, JWCC Next aims to bring DoD partners “entire cloud ecosystems and third-party marketplaces—including from smaller vendors.” 

The current JWCC contract has a total of $2.3 billion in task orders which cover several cloud requirements across DoD and its components.  

The Legal Corner provides the procurement community with an opportunity to share insights and comments on relevant legal issues of the day. The comments herein do not necessarily reflect the views of The Coalition for Common Sense in Government Procurement.

Authored by Jeremy Burkhart, Timothy Taylor, and Bailey Carolyn McHale; Holland & Knight

In an executive order (EO) issued on March 14, 2025, “Additional Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” (the Order), President Donald Trump revoked several Biden Administration EOs and actions, including EO 14026, “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors.” President Trump’s new EO will have the eventual effect (although not immediate until the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issues interim guidance or updates its regulations) of lowering the minimum wage that contractors must pay by more than $4 per hour, going from $17.75 per hour1 to $13.30 per hour.2 

The Order follows years of litigation on the matter and a circuit court split on the lawfulness of the federal contractor minimum wage. President Trump’s revocation of the Biden-era contractor minimum wage, which Holland & Knight discussed as a possibility in a previous alert, renders that particular legal question moot and represents another shift in the rules applicable to federal contractors.

History of the Federal Contractor Minimum Wage: EOs 13658, 13838 and 14026 

Historically, some types of federal contracts included minimum wages set by federal statutes, such as the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act of 1965, Davis-Bacon Act and Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act.3 In February 2014, however, President Barack Obama signed EO 13658, “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contracts,” which created the first-ever minimum wage for federal contractors set by the executive branch alone. EO 13658 set a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour, adjusted for inflation annually and administered by the DOL. On May 25, 2018, President Trump issued EO 13838, “Exemption From Executive Order 13658 for Recreational Services on Federal Lands,” which excluded seasonal recreational workers from the contractor minimum-wage policy. For the remainder of President Trump’s first term, government contractors were required to pay the minimum wage set by EO 13658 (with the exception of seasonal recreational service providers). Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the minimum wage for federal contracts under EO 13658 is $13.30 per hour.

President Joe Biden signed EO 14026 on April 27, 2021. This new EO reimposed coverage over seasonal recreational service providers and raised the contractor minimum wage to $15 per hour for contracts entered into after Jan. 30, 2022, adjusted for inflation annually. Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the minimum wage for federal contractors under EO 14026 is $17.75 per hour.

The vast majority of federal contracts likely incorporate EO 14026’s higher minimum wage because they have been entered into after Jan. 30, 2022, especially when considering that “entered into” includes contract renewals, extensions and the exercise of options. Some older contracts may still operate under EO 13658 and its lower minimum wage.

Court Challenges to the Contractor Minimum Wage

Since EO 14026 was issued in 2021, there have been multiple challenges to the president’s authority to issue a federal contractor minimum wage under its claimed source of authority, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA).4

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the president’s authority to issue a contractor minimum wage in Bradford v. United States DOL and denied the preliminary injunction sought against the recreational services exemption of EO 14026.5

In Nebraska v. Su,6 the U.S. Court of Appels for the Ninth Circuit split from the Tenth Circuit, granting a preliminary injunction against EO 14026 for the plaintiffs. As described in a previous Holland & Knight alert, this ruling held that the president lacked authority to issue EO 14026 and, thus, the contractor minimum wage was unlawful. Two months after this decision was issued, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit followed the Tenth Circuit, upholding presidential authority under the FPASA to issue EO 14026 and reversing a permanent injunction against the EO.7

Despite these conflicting decisions, on Jan. 13, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision in Bradford v. United States DOL, rejecting an opportunity to resolve the current circuit court split.8 The legacy of Nebraska v. Su and this unresolved legal landscape is that the lower Trump/Obama contractor minimum wage may be susceptible to future legal challenges.

Impact of the New EO and Takeaways for Contractors

Contractors should consider the following issues with the revocation of EO 14026:

  • Expect the DOL to issue a rule rescinding the existing regulations implementing the Biden-era contractor minimum wage.
  • The DOL may issue interim guidance or a nonenforcement policy as it works on the rescission.
  • Contractors should not make any immediate changes to employee compensation. Contractors should continue to pay their employees in accordance with the higher minimum wage until receiving clear legal authorization that the obligation has ended. Anticipate this to take the form of a new DOL rule rescinding former President Biden’s minimum wage regulations, with corresponding changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and contract clauses.
  • By operation of law, the Order reinstates EO 13838, applying the lower contractor minimum to all federal “contracts or contract-like instruments” except those entered into “in connection with seasonal recreational services or seasonal recreational equipment rental.”9
  • The Order does not impact minimum and prevailing wages required by statutes such as the Davis–Bacon Act and Service Contract Act. Likewise, the Order does not affect state and local minimum- and prevailing-wage laws.
  • The actual effects on federal contractors may be limited because market wages for many positions far exceed $17.75 per hour.

Recent litigation raises questions over whether the president has the authority to establish a federal contractor minimum wage, and future litigation may further cloud this area of law. Holland & Knight will continue to monitor developments regarding the contractor minimum wage and provide updates. Please contact the authors if you have specific questions for your business.

Notes

1 89 FR 79644.

2 88 FR 66903.

3 41 U.S.C. § 6701 et seq. (The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act of 1965 requires a “prevailing wage” on contracts with service employees); 40 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq. (The Davis-Bacon Act requires a “prevailing wage” on federal contracts for construction, alteration and repair); 41 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq. (The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act requires federal contracts pay the federal minimum wage)

4 40 U.S.C. 101 et seq.

5 101 F.4th 707, 716 (10th Cir. 2024).

6 121 F.4th 1, 2024 WL 4675411 (9th Cir. Nov. 5, 2024).

7 Texas v. Trump, 127 F.4th 606 (5th Cir. 2025).

8 Bradford v. Department of Labor, No. 24-232, 2025 WL 76436 (U.S. Jan. 13, 2025).

9 83 FR 25341.

Off the Shelf: An Assessment of the Broad National Security Landscape 

This week on Off the Shelf, Moshe Schwartz, President of Etherton and Associates, discussed provisions in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the national security factors influencing defense acquisition policy. During the episode, he talks about new defense challenges, along with the budget constraints impacting overall defense policy. Schwartz also highlighted provisions in the FY 2025 NDAA related to supply chain risks, the industrial base, and the defense contracting process. 

Listen to the full podcast here.  

White House Announces Chief Technology Officer Nomination 

Fedscoop reports that the Trump Administration has nominated Ethan Klein to be the White House’s next Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The CTO directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and will “oversee the development and execution of the nation’s science and technology policy agenda.”  

Klein, who previously served in the first Trump Administration, has worked at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which is utilized by the Nuclear National Security Administration (NNSA). If confirmed, Klein will be the first CTO since the first Trump Administration. The position was not filled during the Biden Administration.  

DHS Welcomes New CIO 

MeriTalk reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has appointed Antoine McCord as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO). McCord, who started in the CIO role last week, is now responsible for managing DHS’s approximately $11 billion information technology (IT) budget and leading the department’s IT strategy, cybersecurity operations, and digital modernization initiatives. McCord has a background in cyber and intelligence operations from his time in the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Intelligence Community.  

During the Biden Administration, DHS’ CIO led artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, including establishing the AI Corps, publishing an AI roadmap, and releasing guidance on commercial generative AI.

All-Member Meeting: Cybersecurity Landscape Update, March 27 

The Coalition’s Cyber & Supply Chain Security Committee is pleased to host an all-member meeting with guest presenters Townsend Bourne, Partner at Sheppard Mullin, and Michael Gruden, Partner at Crowell & Moring, on March 27 from 12:00 – 1:00 PM (ET) on the Cybersecurity Landscape. During the meeting, Townsend and Michael will cover the latest key cybersecurity developments impacting contractors, such as: 

  • The Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) proposed incident reporting rule 
  • Software security attestations 
  • Cloud/FedRAMP updates 
  • The latest on the CMMC final rule 
  • CUI proposed rule comments 
  • Legislative and policy developments, including the NDAA, FoRGED Act, and new Administration’s initiatives 

Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed on the evolving cybersecurity landscape. 

To register, click here. For assistance with registration, please contact Madyson Whiting at Mady.Whiting@thecgp.org. 

Back to top