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DOD's Affirmative Action Program Unconstitutional

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 11.06.08

The Federal Circuit in Rothe Dev. Corp. v. DOD (Nov. 4, 2008) has struck down as unconstitutional DOD's program under "section 1207" setting a goal of 5% of its contract dollars to small disadvantaged firms by giving them certain competitive advantages. The court found that Congress had not had before it sufficient evidence of specific discrimination in DOD contracting to satisfy the strict scrutiny standard required for legislation based on racial classifications.

Insights

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  This decision, while nonprecedential, is in line with U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) precedent, which has long held that pre-award protests must be filed before the proposal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....