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Equality For All - OMB Instructs Agencies To Ignore GAO And Give Equal Consideration To Three SBA Programs

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 07.23.09

On July 10, 2009, OMB instructed agencies to continue to adhere to the SBA's "parity" regulations despite two recent GAO decisions-Mission Critical Solutions, 2009 CPD ¶ 93, and Int'l Program Group, Inc., 2008 CPD ¶ 172-that required agencies to prioritize Historically Underutilized Business Zone ("HUBZone") small businesses over 8(a) Program participants and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses in satisfying the agencies' acquisition requirements. OMB explained that the GAO decisions were not binding and instead instructed agencies to consider multiple small business programs pursuant to their existing contracting practices and the SBA's "parity" policies.

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Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.25.26

Twin Executive Orders Seek to Spur Quantum Leap in Technology and Cybersecurity

On June 22, 2026, President Trump signed two executive orders, “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks” (Quantum Security EO) and “Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation” (Quantum Innovation EO), marking the most significant federal action on quantum technology since the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act of 2022, which directed agencies to harden their information systems against quantum-enabled hacking. The orders seek to speed the development of quantum computers, which are advanced processors that can calculate multiple possibilities simultaneously and thus solve problems exponentially faster than traditional computers. At the same time, the orders look to protect against the danger that quantum technology can “break” traditional encryption by easily decoding it. Of particular note for government contractors, the Quantum Security EO directs agencies to update federal acquisition regulations to require contractors by 2031 to adopt information processing standards that resist quantum-enabled codebreaking....

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