GovCon Intelligence

David Mullis has been analyzing the FAR Overhaul from a small-business perspective for well over a year now. So when the FAR Council published its first batches of proposed rules last week, the former SBA Advocacy assistant chief counsel and current regulatory consultant at Gov Contract Pros was my first choice to break down how those rules affect small businesses. There are some surprises in ther...

Lizzie Sullivan has been pushing the Rule of Two through Congress for years now, and this year is the best shot to get that vital rule for small businesses into statutory law, she says. But opposition from an unexpected source has popped up. Sullivan, the president of Madison Services Group, joined me on GovCon Intelligence to discuss the prospect of Congress passing the Rule of Two—which would bo...

In this live stream, I analyzed the newly pre-published SBA’s proposed rule that changes the social-disadvantage eligibility criteria for the 8(a) program. Viewers had questions on the proposed rule. We also covered the little-discussed DoW Small Business Bill of Rights, a recent reorganization of staff at SBA, and a few cases involving the mentor-protégé program. Links follow. A transcript is ava...

Ahead of her presentation at this week’s VETS conference, former White House appointee and 8(a) associate administrator Jackie Robinson-Burnette joined me on GovCon Intelligence. Jackie and I worked together at SBA in the aftermath of the Ultima court decision to save the 8(a) program, and we talked at length about what the program will look like after this latest crisis. I also got her thoughts o...

"When we talk about small businesses being under a microscope, I do worry that the person looking through the lens isn't sure what they're looking for," PSC President Stephanie Kostro said. Fresh off the Professional Services Council annual conference, Stephanie joined Sam on the podcast to discuss the biggest policy issues for small businesses: fraud investigations and audits, the next stage of t...

I sat down last week with Scott Flesch , probably the most experienced bid-protest lawyer ever. Scott was the Chief Trial Attorney for the Army, where he worked on over 2,000 bid protests. He is now a member at Miller & Chevalier, a D.C. law firm. Our conversation started with the most recent Executive Order mandating fixed price contracting, and moved into the risks that contractors face from the...

Links discussed 8(a) participants in 2026 EO on Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting White House Budget Request FY27 Appropriations Committee Draft Report on FY27 Government Appropriation Bill SBA Office of Advocacy Leadership GAO decision in KriaaNet, Inc. , B-422717.4, B-422717.5, April 23, 2026 GAO decision in Threat Tec, LLC , B-424221 , April 23, 2026 P...

Jackson Moore and I recorded a GovCon Intelligence episode on location in Wilmington, North Carolina. We were on a panel there last week, moderated by Sue Kranes at the North Carolina Military Business Center Construction Summit. Jackson is a partner at Smith Anderson in Raleigh and recently has been writing about AI-related developments in GovCon. We talked about AI hallucinations and more broadl...

On a GovCon Intelligence live stream, I covered the current state of the 8(a) Business Development Program and the latest suspension numbers, significant OHA and Federal Court decisions, and SBA administrative changes. I also addressed the impact of the Washington District Office’s move to Herndon and previewed the OIG’s 2026 audit priorities. 00:00:00 Introduction & 8(a) Suspensions Update 00:03:...

Today on GovCon Intelligence, I’m joined by Jayna Rust, a partner at Thompson Coburn and an adjunct professor at The George Washington University Law School. We break down the long-term impact of the 2023 Supreme Court affirmative action ruling on government contracting, including a look at whether there is a flood of DEI-driven discrimination claims. Because she also works on wills and trusts, we...

Damien Specht, a partner at the Morrison Foerster law firm, joined me yesterday on GovCon Intelligence, just a few days after the Senate passed a bill to reauthorize the SBIR program. We got into the details of the reauthorization bill. Then we talked about his specialty—mergers and acquisitions of government contractors. After working on hundreds of M&A deals, Damien shared his tips for companies...

Jessica Tillipman is the dean of GW Law’s procurement law program and the leading expert on the use of AI in government contracting. I caught up with her about the Supreme Court’s tariffs decision, the potential for AI-enabled corruption, and the future of lawyering. Along the way, we discussed SBA’s recent wave of suspensions and proposed terminations of 8(a) firms. An auto-generated summary of t...

Robb Wong was the government’s top small-business advocate in the first Trump Administration, working closely with former SBA Administrator Linda McMahon. He joins Sam on GovCon Intelligence to discuss the Trump Administration’s posture toward small-businesss contractors, the 8(a) data call, and his outlook for 2026. An auto-generated summary of the conversation follows. Guest Background * Robb Wo...

Links mentioned: Dave Zvenyach: “ The 8(a) Dustup ” SBA: “ SBA Issues Clarifying Guidance That Race-Based Discrimination is Not Tolerated in the 8(a) Program ” SBA 8(a) Program Mandate SBA Small Business Search City Journal: “ They Systematically Discriminate Against One Group: White Men. ” Below is an auto-generated summary of a live video. This episode discusses recent developments and heightene...

On this episode of the GovCon Intelligence podcast, Sam and Christine Williams cover the current state of the SBA 8(a) program, focusing on recent administrative challenges, fraud allegations, and the specific role of Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs). The SBA 8(a) Data Call and Data Security. The discussion begins with Christine describing the recent SBA 8(a) data call as “awful” due to a portal...

Matt Schoonover and I got together this afternoon to discuss what SBA told the Office of Management and Budget about the 8(a) data call. Below is an auto-generated summary of our conversation. You can find the topic of our conversation, SBA’s submission to OMB, on reginfo.gov . In this episode of GovCon Intelligence, Sam sits down with Matt Schoonover, a leading attorney in government contracting,...

For a full summary, go to http://www.govconintelligence.com. Topics The 8(a) Fraud Debate and Senate Hearings Nuances of Limitations on Subcontracting (LOS) SBA Audit Updates and FAQs SBA Atlassian website . The FAR Overhaul Q&A Session Q: Can you “stack” the 40% rule for JVs on top of LOS? Q: Is the ultimate intent to do away with set-aside programs? Q: Is there rampant fraud in the 8(a) program?...

Full transcript available at http://www.govconintelligence.com. Here are five areas that I think SBA is going to look into when it receives documentation from the 8(a) audit. Audit Focus Areas The five areas are: * Limitations on Subcontracting * Compliance with the Mentor-Protégé Program * Excessive Withdrawals * Benefits Reporting for entity-owned firms * Indications of Bribery or Kickbacks With...

For a full transcript with links, go to http://govconintelligence.com Welcome to a live GovCon Intelligence video. We’re going to be going over a filing at the Supreme Court about the 8(a) program, as well as a filing in state or district court in Louisiana about the 8(a) program’s race-based presumption. There’s also been a bill introduced in the Senate about suspending 8(a) sole source awards. D...

Please go to govconintelligence.com for a full transcript of this episode. Welcome back to another Q&A edition of GovCon Intelligence . Today, I want to discuss several important documents that came out over the past few weeks for small business contractors, specifically the FAR Companion Guide and the Department of Transportation’s frequently asked questions on the Disadvantaged Business Enterpri...

This is a free newsletter. If you’d like to support my work, please consider donating to the Capital Area Food Bank, which is helping furloughed federal workers across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Donate at samlelaw.com/give . I’m back with another Q&A for GovCon Intelligence this time. We’re going to talk more about the FAR Overhaul and look closely at Part 19 to see what’s changed. I’m going to...

One of the questions I’ve received is: What is the role of OSDBU under the FAR Overhaul, and how will the companion guide affect the roles of the OSDBU? It seems as if the roles of the OSDBU were minimized. I think that’s absolutely right. The roles of the OSDBU have been minimized in the FAR Overhaul, but I’m not sure it’s going to matter. What the FAR Overhaul did is take all the content of the...

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My presentation to the 25th Annual HUBZone conference on the FAR Overhaul and HUBZone data. All credit to Christine Williams for the presentation title! The slides are available for download here: Thanks for reading GovCon Intelligence! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Sam Le is a Virginia- and D.C.-licensed attorney. His website is samlelaw.com. This is a public episod...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.govconintelligence.com