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For over 60 years, the Small Business Administration has celebrated Small Business Week to highlight the contributions of small and medium-sized businesses to the national economy. The Trump Administration marked this year’s Small Business Week celebration with a proclamation noting the benefits of its public policy initiatives, especially those pertaining to tariffs and deregulation. The proclamation, issued on May 5, 2025, promises that small businesses will benefit directly from the Trump Administration’s policy initiatives, which will result in increased access to capital, improved opportunities for public and private investment, and assistance exporting products on a global scale.

In this post, we look at current policy initiatives aimed directly at improving opportunities for small business contractors. 

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In a separate post, we discuss how President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14240 (Mar. 20, 2025) will affect federal purchasing of information technology.

EO 14240 may also change how the federal government buys billions of dollars in other “common goods and services”, a phrase that include nearly everything the Government buys from private industry. The Order defines “common goods and services” as the “common Government-wide categories defined by the “Category Management Leadership Council led by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).” It includes construction, technical and engineering services, logistics, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals.

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President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14240 (Mar. 20, 2025) provides for the General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator to assume responsibility for all Government-wide contracts for the acquisition of information technology and to develop a plan to consolidate purchasing of many other goods and services within GSA.

In this post, we discuss the impacts of EO 14240 on federal IT purchasing. We look at how EO 14240 will affect purchasing of common goods and services in a separate post.

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has temporarily stayed a nationwide injunction, allowing the federal government to enforce provisions of Executive Orders 14173 and 14151, which restrict certain DEI activities, while the appeal proceeds. Businesses with federal contracts or grants should review their DEI policies to ensure compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws…

The FAR Council issued a proposed rule that would amend the several FAR provisions and add new clauses to provide guidance on the safe handling of CUI. Public comments on the proposed rule are being accepted until March 17, 2025. The FAR Council intends to provide guidance to contractors on the requirements to mark, safeguard, disseminate, decontrol, and dispose of CUI (“CUI safeguarding”) for every executive branch agency.

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UPDATE:  As of January 29, 2025, the Trump Administration appears to have rescinded OMB Memo M-25-13 ordering a temporary pause on federal financial assistance activities and disbursements.

OMB Memorandum (M-25-13) advises federal agencies that they must temporarily pause all activities and disbursements of federal financial assistance that may be implicated by any of President Trump’s recent Executive Orders at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today, January 28, 2025.

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President Trump recently issued an executive order revoking E.O. 11246, which had required federal contractors to implement affirmative action and non-discriminatory practices for over 60 years. The new order prohibits the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) from enforcing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, effectively removing affirmative action requirements tied to federal contracts.…

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On January 14, 2025, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced the end of its general waiver of Buy America requirements for manufactured products. The new FHWA rule aligns the FHWA requirements for manufactured products incorporated into federal highway projects with the domestic content standards of the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA).

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The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act allow individuals to file suit on behalf of the United States and to receive a share of the resulting financial settlement or judgment. Filing a qui tam case is not just a formal means of advising the Government of presenting a whistleblower complaint. Even when the Government chooses not to participate in a qui tam case, the False Claims Act itself gives the individual plaintiff authority to pursue it on their own.