NISPOM Revised to Incorporate DSS and GCA Requirements
Client Alert | 1 min read | 08.08.18
On August 1, 2018, DoD published the National Industrial Security Program: Industrial Security Procedures for Government Activities (“Volume 2”), which finally replaces the 1985 Industrial Security Regulation much as the original National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) had replaced the Industrial Security Manual applicable to contractors. Volume 2 prescribes security practices applicable to U.S. government activities and includes an extended discussion of facility security clearances (FCLs), including examples of documentation that sponsoring agencies can use to justify an FCL, an exception for continued FCL processing even if it cannot be completed in time to qualify the company for participation in a procurement action, and uniform criteria for identification of key management personnel for various business structures. Volume 2 also establishes detailed procedures for DSS oversight of contractor investigations of compromised information, DSS processing of limited access authorization, and DSS requirements for international security programs including foreign government and contractor access to U.S. classified information.
Contacts
Insights
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
