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Sequestration Found Valid Basis for Canceling Solicitation

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 09.23.13

In Vinculum Solutions, Inc. (Aug. 5, 2013), GAO, relying on the "broad discretion" afforded to agencies to define their needs and manage their procurements, concluded that the IRS's need to reduce costs due to the ongoing budget sequestration was a valid basis for canceling a solicitation. This appears to be the first decision in which GAO has considered the impacts of sequestration on the procurement process, and it may green-light similar actions in the months ahead for agencies coping with the ongoing sequester and the uncertainties of the FY14 appropriations process.


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Client Alert | 3 min read | 04.14.26

DOJ’s False Claims Act Resolution Against IBM Signals Heightened Risk for Federal Contractors with DEI Programs

On Friday, April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has agreed to pay just over $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by failing to comply with federal anti-discrimination requirements incorporated into its federal contracts due to allegedly discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employment practices. This resolution marks the first FCA settlement secured by the DOJ under its Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, created in May 2025, and announced by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the administration’s coordinated efforts to target allegedly unlawful DEI practices. Per the agreement, the settlement is neither an admission of liability by IBM nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded....