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OGE Issues Final Rule on Gifts

Client Alert | 1 min read | 11.22.16

The Office of Government Ethics has issued a final rule revising the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch applicable to the solicitation and acceptance of gifts from outside sources imposing a duty to decline otherwise permissible gifts when the appearance of impropriety is present, adding new examples of how to apply the rules, codifying previous interpretations of the gift rule, and retaining the $20 de minimis exception. In the rule, discussed more fully here, OGE says it will provide additional guidance and training as warranted.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 07.10.26

Federal Circuit Clarifies Application of Blue & Gold: Proposal Submission Deadline, Not Award, is the Operative Time for Filing

In Utech, Inc. v. United States, No. 24-1586 (Fed. Cir. June 24, 2026), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit clarified that in most cases, a pre-award protest must be filed before the proposal submission deadline to avoid the Blue & Gold waiver rule.  This decision, while nonprecedential, is in line with U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) precedent, which has long held that pre-award protests must be filed before the proposal submission deadline....