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TSA Snared in GAO Protest Jurisdiction

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 03.19.10

In General Dynamics One Source, LLC, GAO rejected TSA's jurisdictional challenge, holding that Congress revoked TSA's exemption from GAO protests effective June 22, 2008, and that TSA's Phase II solicitation issued in December 2008 could not relate back to the exemption that previously existed for the Phase I competition. On the merits, GAO sustained the protests due to TSA's failure to evaluate price realism when (1) the awardee proposed mismatched staffing approaches in the technical and cost proposals, and (2) the awardee's proposed staffing depended upon hiring incumbent staff at rates well below current incumbent salaries.

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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....