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Wake-up Call: GSA Launches Requirement for Schedule Contractors to Reaffirm TAA Compliance

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 05.06.16

Concerned with repeated instances of FOIA requests and congressional inquiries exposing contractors offering products not compliant with the Trade Agreements Act on their Federal Supply Schedule contracts, on May 5, 2016, GSA began notifying several contractors that, within five business days, they would need to provide certification that products offered were TAA-compliant or remove them from their offering. The breadth of this initiative continues to unfold, but it serves as a caution for contractors to reevaluate their supply chain and the manner in which they offer products on their FSS contracts under the complex “substantial transformation” rules for establishing country-of-origin under the TAA.

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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....