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Proposed FAR Rule Targets Restrictive Confidentiality Agreements

Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.27.16

On January 22, 2016, the FAR Council proposed a new rule implementing section 743 of the 2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, which prohibits federal dollars from going to companies that require employees to sign restrictive confidentiality agreements that could limit the ability of employees to report suspected fraud and abuse to the government. As described in a post, the proposed rule comes at a time of increased scrutiny from government agencies on the use of confidentiality agreements, and several agencies have issued class deviations in order to implement the requirements of the 2015 act pending the issuance of the final FAR rule.

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Client Alert | 2 min read | 12.19.25

GAO Cautions Agencies—Over-Redact at Your Own Peril

Bid protest practitioners in recent years have witnessed agencies’ increasing efforts to limit the production of documents and information in response to Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid protests—often will little pushback from GAO. This practice has underscored the notable difference in the scope of bid protest records before GAO versus the Court of Federal Claims. However, in Tiger Natural Gas, Inc., B-423744, Dec. 10, 2025, 2025 CPD ¶ __, GAO made clear that there are limits to the scope of redactions, and GAO will sustain a protest where there is insufficient evidence that the agency’s actions were reasonable....