On September 12, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order (“E.O.”) announcing the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, a “whole-of-government” effort to further biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovations in health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture, supply chain resilience, and national and economic security. The White House subsequently announced that the Initiative would cost $2 billion.
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Eleventh Circuit Upholds But Narrows Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate Injunction
UPDATED AS OF 9/1/2022: On August 31, 2022, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force officially announced that the Federal Government will not enforce the federal government contractor vaccination mandate, absent further written notice. The Task Force announcement is posted on its website here.
An analysis of the Eleventh Circuit decision that preceded this announcement…
Department of Defense Debarment Enjoined Due to Procedural Missteps
The Eastern District of New York has enjoined a New York contractor’s federal debarment, in a rebuke of agency debarment actions that fail to honor contractors’ procedural rights. On July 8, 2022, part supplier Precision Metals Corporation (“Precision”) was granted a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) vacating and setting aside a Defense Logistics Agency (“DLA”) debarment…
Federal Debarments and Suspensions Hit Ten Year Low, According to FY 2020 Report
On April 18, 2022, the government released its annual report on federal suspension and debarment activities for FY 2020. The report is published by the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee (“ISDC”) to fulfill its obligation annually to update Congress on the status of the government’s suspension and debarment program across all executive agencies. While the…
Senior HHS Official Discusses Role of OIG in FCA Resolutions and Enforcement Priorities for 2022
On February 23, 2022, Gregory E. Demske, Chief Counsel to the Inspector General for HHS’s Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), provided opening remarks and answered questions during the Federal Bar Association’s annual Qui Tam Conference. Mr. Demske spoke about OIG’s role in False Claims Act (“FCA”) enforcement and resolutions, and discussed enforcement priorities for the…
U.S. Foreign Military Sales Down Over Thirty Percent in FY 2021
By Nooree Lee & Emma Merrill
On December 22, 2021, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the Fiscal Year 2021 transaction figures for the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program, reporting $34.8 billion in total transaction value. FMS declined for the second consecutive year, down 31 percent from $50.8 billion dollars in transactions in FY 2020. The 2021 figure represents the…
COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Update: Arizona District Court Issues Additional Injunction; Mandate Remains Enjoined Nationwide; OSHA Mandate Withdrawn
As discussed in our previous post, multiple federal courts have issued preliminary injunctions blocking the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors. On January 27, 2022, the United States District Court of Arizona issued a new and additional injunction barring enforcement of the mandate within the State of Arizona. In so doing,…
New GAO Report: HHS Faces Outstanding Issues as it Assumes Vaccine Responsibilities
Since May 2020, federal efforts to fast-track the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has been led by a joint effort between the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the Department of Defense (“DoD”), formerly known as Operation Warp Speed but renamed the HHS-DoD COVID-19 Countermeasures Acceleration Group (“CAG”). As of December…
Contractor COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Blocked in Three States and Numerous Additional Challenges Pending
On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden Administration from enforcing its federal contractor COVID-19 vaccine mandate in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. As discussed in our previous posts, via Executive Order 14042, President Biden mandated that employees of federal contractors…
Are Federal Contractors Immunized From Vaccination Litigation? Mitigating The Risk Of Civil Liabilities Arising Out Of The COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate
Federal government contractors face many uncertainties as they implement President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. This includes the distinct possibility of civil lawsuits arising out of their implementation of the mandate, including potential allegations of invasion of privacy, wrongful termination, lost wages, discrimination, personal injury or other common law claims or statutory violations. At least…