Contractors identify yourself; it's the rule

Defense Department officials changed the department's regulations to require service contractors to identify themselves as a contractor, whether in person or in a letter.

M&A players beware. DOD is watching.

The rapid pace of mergers and acquisitions among defense contractors is forcing DOD officials to closely monitor the activity. What are they afraid of?

Inside the early success of GSA's mentor-protégé program

Tony Eiland leads what he refers to as a "meat-and-potatoes" program at GSA that helps to hook up small companies with more experienced ones.

Feds want greater details in contractors' time and costs reporting

Officials work to draw a clearer picture of the blended workforce through reports on service contracts.

Let this not be a picture of the future of IT

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New rules proposed to protect contractor information

The White House wants new safeguards against one contractor getting inside information on another.

Obama offers different vision of conflicts of interest

New White House proposal would give agencies more flexibility when faced with potential harm to the government and other vendors.

Obama donations proposal would hurt acquisition process, critics say

President Barack Obama's attempt to have businesses show whom they support politically goes against the intent of a merit-based procurement system by putting seemingly irrelevant information before the contracting officer, officials say.

Contractors required to disclose political contributions: draft order

The White House is considering how to require contractors to declare their political contributions when submitting a contract bid, according to a draft executive order.

Kundra: Obama correct, IT purchasing a mess

The federal CIO agreed with President Barack Obama's comments on April 14, in which he complained about how the government buys IT.

PSC tells wartime contracting panel to take wider view of relief operations

Criticism comes as officials seek lessons from nongovernmental organizations on their contingency operations.

Obama to wield scalpel not hatchet for budget

President Obama has proposed across-the-board spending cuts tied to the debt, but left unclear the impacts on IT, workforce and other programs.

Agencies recover from shutdown threat

The government held conferences, federal websites were running, and agencies were tweeting as normal today after a government shutdown was averted.

CIOs talk. Does anyone listen?

A lack of clout in departments' roundtable discussions must stand out clearly — even to those outside the federal IT community.

Bill would put job creation pressure on contractors

A group of House members wants companies to estimate the number of jobs they would create when they win a new contract.

Defense audit agency gets new second-in-command

Anita Bales has served at the agency for nearly 20 years.

Alaska natives defend set-aside program before Senate committee

Advocates say the program is successing and building businesses, which doesn't mean the program should end.

Former GSA procurement chief goes to the Hill again

Emily Murphy will be working on small-business contracting and workforce issues for a House committee.

Conference offers shutdown guarantee

Want to attend a conference but afraid you'll be furloughed when it happens? At least one organizer says, 'No problem!'

SBA launches contracting program for women

Contracting officers can now set-aside contracts for woman-owned small businesses, under an interim rule issued April 1.