Takeaways

DoD is required to study bid protests that have been filed at both the GAO and the COFC and to develop a plan to expedite bid protests for contracts valued at less than $100,000.
DoD is required to develop policies regarding Government-issued performance evaluations of certain first-tier subcontractors and joint venture partners.
NDAA reformed the CFIUS foreign investment review process to improve the efficiency of national security reviews and investigations.

On August 13, 2018, President Trump signed the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (2019 NDAA), which includes $616.9 billion for the Department of Defense’s (DoD) base budget, $69 billion for overseas contingency operations funding, $8.9 billion for mandatory defense spending and $21.9 billion for nuclear weapons programs under the Department of Energy. We have written extensively on numerous provisions of this new law.

In our August 7 Client Alert, we discussed Congress’ directive to the DoD to study the “frequency and effects” of bid protests that have been first filed at the GAO and then subsequently at the COFC and to develop a plan to expedite bid protests for contracts valued at less than $100,000.

We also previously explained the required changes to the contractor performance evaluation process, under which DoD will develop policies regarding Government-issued performance evaluations of certain first-tier subcontractors and joint venture partners.

Our colleagues in Pillsbury’s International Trade team have also addressed the 2019 NDAA, providing insight into reforms of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) foreign investment review process. Notably, the NDAA makes a number of changes intended to improve the efficiency of national security reviews and investigations.

We will continue to analyze the 2019 NDAA and provide updates as new information comes to light. If you have any questions about the new law or its provisions, please contact the authors or any of the group’s attorneys to further discuss your concern.

These and any accompanying materials are not legal advice, are not a complete summary of the subject matter, and are subject to the terms of use found at: https://www.pillsburylaw.com/en/terms-of-use.html. We recommend that you obtain separate legal advice.