GovCon Intelligence

Emily Reid, a lawyer with PilieroMazza, joined me to discuss the new direction of the 8(a) program. SBA has redefined social disadvantage, and companies are applying and resubmitting their prior applications under the new standard. Emily went through what SBA is looking for now, plus how companies can get their applications on a fast track. Before PilieroMazza, Emily worked at the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, so she also knows what firms need to do if they get rejected from 8(a) and want to appeal.LinksMySBA Certifications https://certifications.sba.gov8(a) Social Disadvantage Regulation FAQ https://certifications.sba.gov/faq/8_a_Social_Disadvantage_Guidance_8-28-2026.pdfFAQ II: 8(a) Applicants in Defense-Critical Industries and Next Steps for Pending Individually-Owned 8(a) Applications https://certifications.sba.gov/faq/8_a_Social_Disadvantage_Regulation_Change_FAQ_Volume_Two.pdf8(a) Potential for Success Requirement FAQ https://certifications.sba.gov/faq/8_a_Potential_For_Success_FAQ.pdfUltima Services Corporation v. U.S. Department of Agriculture et al, 2:2020cv00041 (E.D. Tenn. 2026) https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/tennessee/tnedce/2:2020cv00041/93612/140/Chapters* 0:00 Introduction* 0:48 Why SBA Paused 8(a) Applications* 3:08 What the New Social Disadvantage Rule Requires* 4:34 What Evidence SBA Will Accept* 7:21 What the Application Form Asks For* 8:55 Beyond Ultima: Other Policies That Qualify* 12:14 Pending Applications and the 45-Day Deadline* 14:15 The Two Certifications and the Risk of Getting Them Wrong* 16:57 Finding the Documents, and Why Not to Rely on AI* 19:20 Potential for Success: SBA Cuts Back on Waivers* 21:14 Defense-Critical Industries and Fast-Track Review* 23:12 How the Ultima Case Ended* 25:06 Two Systems: SBA and the Department of Transportation* 27:46 How to Appeal a Denial to OHA* 28:56 Should You Apply? Benefits and Compliance Costs* 31:47 What Happened After the Data Call* 34:04 Where to Find Emily ReidWith over 20 years of Federal legal experience, Sam Le counsels small businesses through government contracting matters, including bid protests, contract compliance, small business certifications, and procurement disputes. Sam received his law degree from the University of Virginia and formerly served as SBA’s director of procurement policy. His website is www.samlelaw.com.This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.govconintelligence.com

In a livestream, I answered the two questions I get most about SBA’s proposal on size standards: Why is SBA doing this? And when might it happen? I also broke down how SBA could leave just 360 small businesses left in Federal contracting.LinksProposed Rule: Small Business Size Standards https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/20/2026-17042/small-business-size-standardsRegulations.gov docket https://www.regulations.gov/document/SBA-2026-0199-0001/commentGoogle Sheet of Size Standard Proposals https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lY83yT6T-THskHao-Vf28JrryhKay-XPText of all 2,723 comments as of 9/21 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mhbiHWMVFWqfbUhYwd1H4LTNoBtG1oANCourtney Modecki’s post on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/posts/courtneymodecki_govcon-smallbusiness-sba-share-7506740781034930176-vVAsWolverine Group Size Standard Impact Tool https://wolverine-group.com/tooling-size-standard.htmlProject 2025 Presidential Transition Project (Heritage Foundation) https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdfStatement of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Re: Amendment of Section 73.3555(e) of the Commission’s Rules, National Television Multiple Ownership Rule, MB Docket No. 17-318, Report and Order (August 6, 2026) https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-424076A2.pdfFY26 SBA Scorecard Methodology Update https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2026-09/FY26%20SBA%20Scorecard%20Methodology%20Update-1.pdfPress Release: Advocacy Supports SBA Size Standards Update https://advocacy.sba.gov/2026/09/17/advocacy-supports-sba-size-standards-update/Small Business Innovation Measure by Patenting Activity https://advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Fact-Sheet_Small-Business-Innovation-Measured-by-Patenting-Activity-1.pdfDepartment of Defense Small Business Strategy https://media.defense.gov/2023/Jan/26/2003150429/-1/-1/0/SMALL-BUSINESS-STRATEGY.PDFBending the Rules by Rachel Augustine Potter https://www.augustinepotter.com/books.htmlDenes et al., How Big is Small? The Economic Effects of Access to Small Business Government Support https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3451424Feinstein, Small Business Favoritism https://faculty.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Small-Business-Favoritism.pdfSize Appeal of Brice Solutions, LLC https://govt.westlaw.com/sbaoha/Document/I36932e89aba311f195c6ba05d03f86cfHUBZone Appeal of DT Professional Services LLC https://govt.westlaw.com/sbaoha/Document/I1e9a0d5ab5d111f19a6dae822e4bdc94Chapters* 0:00 Introduction* 1:25 The 60-Day Comment Extension* 2:24 Two Dockets and 2,723 Comments* 3:28 Why the 60,000 Comment Figure Is Wrong* 4:46 87 Percent Against* 8:35 Comments by NAICS Code* 10:29 Why Is SBA Doing This? Project 2025* 14:14 The FCC Ownership Cap Parallel* 18:37 Why SBA Uses Four-Digit NAICS Codes* 19:57 The Mid-Size Business Problem Since the 1980s* 20:48 37,000 or 4,200 Mid-Size Firms?* 23:20 Companies Grow Up to the Cap* 24:18 The Math: 60,000 Small Businesses or 360?* 29:23 The Short Answer on Why* 30:02 When Will SBA Finalize? Rachel Potter’s Three Tools* 33:46 Timing as a Tool and the Midterm Elections* 36:31 Roadblocks: Opposition and Organization* 37:49 Legal Challenges* 39:19 The Scorecard and New Entrants* 40:17 What the Research Says About Raising Size Standards* 42:45 Small Businesses and Innovation* 45:29 Audience Questions* 52:40 HUBZone Appeal: DT Professional Services* 53:54 Size Appeal: Brice Solutions* 55:34 ClosingWith over 20 years of Federal legal experience, Sam Le counsels small businesses through government contracting matters, including bid protests, contract compliance, small business certifications, and procurement disputes. Sam received his law degree from the University of Virginia and formerly served as SBA’s director of procurement policy. His website is www.samlelaw.com.This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.govconintelligence.com

David Timm is watching AI change Federal contracting, both at agencies and with contractors themselves, and he’s worried about where this will lead. The Burr & Forman lawyer specializes in bid protests, where AI has created huge problems for GAO and the Court of Federal Claims. He’s also tracked the undisclosed use of AI by the government to evaluate proposals. David and I talked about what steps contractors should take when they think AI might be reading their bids. And we discussed the strange irony that, while researchers are worried about AI will kill us all, it can’t research for a basic GAO protest.LinksDavid Timm on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmdavid/Burr & Forman profile https://www.burr.com/people/david-timmDisclosure for Thee But Not for Me (Washington Technology) https://www.washingtontechnology.com/opinion/2026/07/disclosure-thee-not-me/415084How GenAI Misuse is Changing in Procurement Litigation https://www.burr.com/government-contracting/how-genai-misuse-is-changing-in-procurement-litigationCal Newport: Anthropic Just Threatened to Kill Billions of People. This Is Not Okay. https://calnewport.com/anthropic-just-threatened-to-kill-billions-of-people-this-is-not-okay/OMB Use Case Inventory https://github.com/ombegov/2025-Federal-Agency-AI-Use-Case-InventoryAI Hallucinations Database https://www.damiencharlotin.com/hallucinations/OMB Memo M-25-21 https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/M-25-21-Accelerating-Federal-Use-of-AI-through-Innovation-Governance-and-Public-Trust.pdfOMB Memo M-25-22 https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/M-25-22-Driving-Efficient-Acquisition-of-Artificial-Intelligence-in-Government.pdfTrax Int’l Corp. v. United States (COFC) https://dockets.justia.com/docket/federal-claims/cofce/1:2026cv00796/54375Proposed GSAR Clause on Basic Safeguarding of Data Within Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence Systems https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/17/2026-12205/general-services-acquisition-regulation-acquisition-of-information-and-communication-technologySalient CRGT, Inc., B-423640.2, .4, Jan. 5, 2026 (GAO) https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423640.2%2Cb-423640.4Warfighter Focused Logistics, Inc., B-423546, B-423546.2, Aug. 5, 2025 (GAO) https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423546%2Cb-423546.2Adversarial Poetry as a Universal Single-Turn Jailbreak Mechanism in Large Language Models https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.15304AI Self-preferencing in Algorithmic Hiring: Empirical Evidence and Insights https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.00462AI Agents Push Humans Out of the Loop https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.23642Lost in the Middle https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.10276Chapters0:00 Introduction0:34 The Weed Whacker Strapped to the Dog4:06 Where the Disclosure Requirement Comes From7:47 How We Know Agencies Are Using LLMs to Evaluate Bids10:48 Where Is the Harm? A Race to the Bottom13:45 Disclosure for Thee: The GSAR Clause and Prompt Injection18:05 Best Practices: Papering the Record Before and After Award23:26 Will Agencies Keep the LLM’s Reasoning?25:35 What the Tribunals Are Likely to Do27:11 Plausibility and the Lost-in-the-Middle Problem31:19 Counting Gen AI Misuse in Procurement Litigation34:10 Tucker v. United States and Other Fake Cases37:20 Is GovCon a Uniquely Risky Niche?42:20 The Donut Factory and the Risk-Importance Matrix45:33 Recommendations for the Tribunals49:19 De-Skilling and What Clients Actually Pay For53:11 Where to Find David TimmWith over 20 years of Federal legal experience, Sam Le counsels small businesses through government contracting matters, including bid protests, contract compliance, small business certifications, and procurement disputes. Sam received his law degree from the University of Virginia and formerly served as SBA’s director of procurement policy. His website is www.samlelaw.com.This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.govconintelligence.com

I had a feeling this was coming: When the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul first came out, the process that the FAR Council used looked every bit as revolutionary—and ultimately even more so—than the FAR itself. Now, Marcos Gonzalez of GovSpring Legal, a small law firm in D.C., is suing on behalf of a contractor, arguing that that process is illegal. We talked about the basis for his case against the FAR at the Court of Federal Claims. We also discussed how Marcos’s firm uses AI in the practice of law.LinksMarcos Gonzalez (LinkedIn) https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgonzalez15GovSpring Legal https://govspringlegal.comDon Acquisition https://donacquisition.comContractor Says Federal Procurement Overhaul Prevented Bid https://news.bloomberglaw.com/federal-contracting/contractor-says-federal-procurement-overhaul-prevented-bidDon Acquisition v. USA https://dockets.justia.com/docket/federal-claims/cofce/1:2026cv01039/54625Revolutionary FAR Overhaul https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaulExecutive Order 14275 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/restoring-common-sense-to-federal-procurement/You said, We did (GSA) https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/you-said-we-didRhodes to exit as OFPP administrator https://federalnewsnetwork.com/people/2026/08/rhodes-to-exit-as-ofpp-administrator/41 USC 1707: Publication of proposed regulations https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title41-section1707&num=0&edition=prelimWilson 5 Service Company, Inc., B-424429, July 17, 2026 https://www.gao.gov/products/b-424429Chapters* 00:00 Introduction: Suing Over the FAR Overhaul Process* 01:27 Starting GovSpring Legal* 04:01 How the Don Acquisition Case Came Together* 05:54 What the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Is and Why Now* 09:45 Regulatory Burden and the Commercial Marketplace* 11:25 Three Sets of Rules at Once* 13:10 When the RFO Takes Away Contractor Rights* 15:03 Notice and Comment Rulemaking Under 41 U.S.C. 1707* 20:04 Why the FAR Council Used Deviations Instead* 24:11 Can the Government Cure the Defect After the Fact?* 25:33 Informal Feedback vs. the Federal Register* 28:03 The Changes That Matter: Small Business and the DEI Clause* 33:27 Subcontractor Monitoring and False Claims Act Risk* 36:45 Transactional Data Reporting and Small Business Compliance* 39:11 Advice to Contractors: Engage Counsel Earlier* 41:33 The Precedent: You Can’t Unring the Bell* 43:50 AI in Legal Practice* 50:52 Rethinking Legal Marketing and Business Development* 54:30 Where to Find GovSpring LegalTranscript available at http://govconintelligence.com. With over 20 years of Federal legal experience, Sam Le counsels small businesses through government contracting matters, including bid protests, contract compliance, small business certifications, and procurement disputes. Sam received his law degree from the University of Virginia and formerly served as SBA’s director of procurement policy. His website is www.samlelaw.com.This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.govconintelligence.com

SBA published proposed size standards that raise small-business limits by 15x in some important industries. As I explained in my live stream earlier, the across-the-board increases flow from SBA’s interpretation of the “dominance” provision in the Small Business Act. SBA explains that, for $20 billion industries, a $500 million business “would not be dominant.” That’s why the proposed size standards go up to $531 million in some important government contracting industries, and even higher in others.An auto-generated transcript of the live stream follows.Links* Google Sheet comparing the proposed standards to current standards and previously proposed standards https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lY83yT6T-THskHao-Vf28JrryhKay-XP* SBA Proposed Rule on Small Business Size Standards https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/20/2026-17042/small-business-size-standards* SBA Proposed Size Standards Methodology https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/20/2026-17039/small-business-size-standards-revised-size-standards-methodology* Prior SBA proposed changes from August 2024 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-08-22/pdf/2025-16142.pdf* Prior SBA Size Standard Methodology https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2024-09/Updated_Size_Standard_Methodology_WhitePaper_2024_Proposed_508_v0.pdf* Link for Submitting comments by September 21, 2026 https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/SBA-2026-0199-0001* How Big is Small? The Economic Effects of Access to Small Business Government Support by Matthew Denes et. al. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3451424Chapters* 0:00 Breaking News: SBA Proposes a Sweeping Overhaul of Size Standards* 1:17 Sam’s Background at SBA* 3:02 What the Law Requires: Defining “Small”* 5:49 Two Types of Size Standards: Employees vs. Receipts* 8:52 Procedural Requirements: NAICS Codes and Public Hearings* 11:44 Walking Through the Proposed Numbers* 18:12 How These Numbers Got So Big: The Old Methodology* 21:19 The New Methodology and the $500 Million Anchor* 26:08 Footnotes and Sub-Industries Eliminated* 30:42 What This Means: Mid-Sized Companies Become Small* 33:05 Second-Order Effects: The Rule of Two and Set-Asides* 36:52 Contract Consolidation, M&A, and the Mentor-Protégé Program* 41:23 Timeline: The Comment Period and Path to a Final Rule* 47:57 Audience Q&A: SBIR, Loan Programs, and Multi-Award IDIQs* 50:33 The Old Maximum Cap, and Research on Raising Size Standards* 54:07 Effects on Subcontracting and Certification Programs* 56:07 The Dominance Standard and How to Submit Comments* 58:41 Closing Thoughts: Sam’s TakeWith over 20 years of Federal legal experience, Sam Le counsels small businesses through government contracting matters, including bid protests, contract compliance, small business certifications, and procurement disputes. Sam received his law degree from the University of Virginia and formerly served as SBA’s director of procurement policy. His website is http://www.samlelaw.com.This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.govconintelligence.com