Agencies can fire all probationary employees once again following a new court ruling. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is planning to move from its headquarters in Washington, DC to different offices across the country. USDA employees who survive RIFs must relocate. I assume that federal government contractors supporting the USDA will have to relocate staff as well. Whether the government is planning to pay contractors those costs is another issue. Now, let’s turn to specific issues we are seeing.
Subcontracting Directive. Contractors we represent are receiving notices from ordering officials about whether any of their subcontractors or suppliers are non US based companies. Before I discuss this further, let us delve into who is considered a subcontractor under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). A subcontractor is any supplier, distributor, vendor, 1099, consultant, person, or firm that has a contractual relationship with a prime contractor or higher-tier subcontractor to provide products or services that are part of the contract work. The waterfront has now been covered.
Brandon Graves and Sudar Sivakumar have had a tremendous amount of requests for assistance with what we hear is some sort of elusive directive. We have not been able to get our hands on it, but it allegedly requires all contracting or ordering officers to ask whether any foreign companies supplying goods or services will be used in the performance of the contract and whether there is a US-based alternative if they are using a foreign company. Be prepared to explain the use of any foreign companies for grants and contracts.
Tariffs. I am advising my clients who submit new proposals for future work to footnote their cost proposals, noting that the prices do not include future tariffs. That may help contractors get a price adjustment for those increased prices.
