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GAO Teaches Course in Cost Realism 101

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 06.06.07

In Magellan Health Services (Jan. 5, 2007, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/298912.pdf), GAO sustained a protest of HHS's award of a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for employee assistance program services when the agency's cost realism evaluation was unreasonable for several reasons, including a failure to account for insufficient levels of effort and labor rates in the awardee's cost proposal. After chiding the agency for not adjusting the awardee's cost proposal in accordance with the recommendations of the agency's own cost analyst, GAO found the adjusted costs were still lower than the protestor's but the smaller delta required the agency to take another look at its unsupported conclusion that the offerors were "technically equal."

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Client Alert | 5 min read | 07.20.26

DOJ and DHS Issue Interim Final Rule on State and Local Counter-Drone Authority Under the SAFER SKIES Act

On July 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an Interim Final Rule (IFR) setting up a new federal framework that allows state, local, Tribal, and territorial (SLTT) law enforcement and correctional agencies to detect, track, and, in some cases, disable or seize drones. The rule directly affects SLTT agencies looking to stand up counter-drone programs, as well as drone and counter-drone technology companies whose products will be subject to federal review and approval. Although the IFR bypassed the Administrative Procedure Act’s standard notice-and-comment process on good cause grounds — citing the statutory 180-day deadline and urgent public safety needs — the rule is already legally binding and effective as of July 1, 2026. The Departments are nonetheless accepting post-promulgation comments through September 4, 2026....

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