SmallGovCon Week in Review: October 20-24, 2025

October and November always seem to be a popular conference season in the federal contracting world. Last week attorney-author Greg Weber was in Oklahoma. This week saw Nicole Pottroff visit the GovCon Kansas City 2025 to present on the topic of the Top 21 Legal Mistakes in Federal Government Contracting. It was a great event with a lot of enthusiastic attendees and interesting questions. Thanks to the organizers including the Missouri APEX Accelerator for inviting us to present!

While news of the shutdown is high on the list of articles this week, there were also updates on CMMC, federal hiring and workforce, and a spotlight on the 8(a) Program.

• Court extends restraining order to shield more feds from shutdown RIFs
• DOD Shutdown Guidance Limits Contract Work to Pre-Funded Efforts 
• Trump Signs Executive Order to Restructure Federal Hiring Oversight 
• CMMC Rollout 2025: What GovCon Leaders Need to Do Today 
• The latest updates on congressional inaction regarding the government shutdown
• Shutdown impact: What it means for workers, federal programs and the economy
• OPM renews effort to consolidate 119 HR systems into one
• Building Resilience: Emotional Intelligence Lessons For Federal Contractors
• ‘This has never happened before’: NNSA furloughs 1,400 staff
• How federal contractors stay solvent and scale smart once they survive the startup phase
• Norton Pushes Bill to End Federal Ad Discrimination
• VA Secretary warns more staff to be furloughed if shutdown continues
• What federal buyers need to succeed with AI-enabled procurement 
• Government Shutdown Survival Guide: Who Works, Who Doesn’t & When People Get Paid

View the full article