The Wifcon Blog

"According to the complaint, filed in this matter with the United States District Court, Southern District of California, case number 13MJ1269, Cervantes is charged specifically with violating Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 201 ( B )(2), bribery. Cervantes allegedly used his position to extort bribes from businesses seeking to do busine...

"A bipartisan group of senators led by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) are expressing continued concern and frustration over the Army's use of contractors that have potential ties to terrorist groups.  The senators specifically referred to a longstanding backlog of 43 referrals pending before the Army's Suspension and Debarment Official tha...

"What you’re looking at is a cell in the midst of dividing into two identical copies—a process called mitosis. Here, the chromosomes (in blue) are aligned at the cell’s equator. Microtubules (red) from opposite poles of the cell attach to the chromosomes using the kinetochores (green) and pull them to opposite ends of the cell, which...

You are a program officer with big "wants" but with little federal money.  Your contracting officer is not familiar with hiding overruns in an FPI(F) contract--yet.  Besides, you have never heard of it--yet.  What to do?  Well, this politician knows best.  With a little luck and plenty of ignorance, you may see the "fixed price technical compe...

". . . in the current fiscal climate, agencies and businesses alike have been forced to make tough spending cuts. After carefully reviewing the projected spending and attendance for this year’s conference, GSA is suspending Expo for 2013 in an effort to use our resources responsibly and to deliver better value and savings for our government part...

You're travelling on your own for the government and you found a way to save money but you're subject to the Joint Travel Regulations as well as the Federal Travel Regulation.  What do you do? You went ahead and saved the government money and were proud of yourself.  Unfortunately, your finance office stiffed you when it came time for payment.  It...

"Under a Contractor Team Arrangement (CTA), two or more GSA Schedule contractors work together to meet ordering activity needs. By complementing each other's capabilities, the team offers a total solution to the ordering activity's requirement, providing a "win-win" situation for all parties."But what is a Prime/Subcontractor relat...

One of our colleagues sent this to me and I am posting it for you.  Even Bilbo Baggins has a contract attorney to watch over him. "I, the undersigned, [referred to hereinafter as Burglar,] agree to travel to the Lonely Mountain, path to be determined by Thorin Oakenshield, who has a right to alter the course of the journey at his so choosing, without...

Searching for an item to post is time-consuming and frustrating.  However, some times an item pops up from an unexpected place.  In this case, it was the U. S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals.  The case is straightforward and easy to read and contains some excerpts that are noteworthy.  Here is what the Board said: "Our view is in line with the co...

In Estes Express Lines, Inc. v. U. S., No. 11-597C, January 15, 2013, the Court of Federal Claims said:"For the government to be sued on a contract pursuant to the Tucker Act, there must be privity of contract between the plaintiff and the United States." "This is so because the doctrine of sovereign immunity precludes a suit against the Unite...