Vern Edwards

I’m not sure what “representative portion” means. I’m not sure what “applicable” means in this context. What I would do is look at the bottom line amount asked for in the context of the termination and decide if it’s a fair and reasonable amount. If I thought it was too much I’d ask for details and then might negotiate. I would not get into allowability as defined in Part 31. I would exercise CO discretion. It’s commercial.

Joel, I don't understand that sentence.

That's not hard under the circumstances at issue. The contractor is asking for a sum of money. You don't need to do a cost analysis to determine if the sum is fair and reasonable. It's commercial. Look at the contract price. Then look at the amount being asked for as a percentage of that price. Consider the circumstances of the T for C and make a fair decision. Negotiate if necessary. Again, unless we're talking millions, I would made decision without any cost analysis whatsoever--a strictly bottom line settlement.

The future role of the contracting officer is unclear in light of the arrival of AI. COs are what Peter Drucker called "knowledge workers." Their job is to analyze information and make informed decisions. Their value lies in what they know and how well they think. What will be left for them to do after AI is fully integrated into contract work? Quite a bit has been written in an attempt to answer that kind of question. See, e.g., Gupta, "The Rise of AI Copilots: Redefining Human-Machine Collaboration in Knowledge Work," International Journal of Humanities and Information Technology (2025): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=AI+and+knowledge+workers&hl=en&as_sdt=0,48 What will COs have to know about AI? See "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: What Shapes AI Literacy for Responsible Interactions of Knowledge Workers With AI?", Passlack et al., Information Systems Frontier (2024): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10796-025-10648-5 What coming? Are you ready? Will you still want a career in contracting? If so, what will be left for you to do?

@joel hoffman It's not simple if you're going to thumb your way through FAR Part 31 in order to determine whether you would pay twice.

It's commercial. All this delving into cost principles is exactly what Part 12 is not supposed to be about. Keep it simple and fair. The CO has the power to do that. Get it over with.

https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48784/R48784.2.pdf

I would simply ask the contractor if the start-up work was done after contract award. If it was, then it is part of the percentage of the work performed, notbid and proposal cost, and that percentage is applied to the contract price when calculating the settlement. If it was done before contract award, then it is not part of the contract work performed. I see no need to go to the cost principles. It's commercial. Keep it simple and fair.

Here is what FAR 52.212-4(l) says: Emphasis added. @govt2310 I don't think start-up costs result from a T for C. Do you? But is start-up part of the "work performed" after contract award? If you think so, consider it in the settlement.

Is the procurement classified?

Career management has always been challenging, but 2025 brought shock, uncertainty, anxiety, and discouragement to the task for almost all of us who have pursued a career working for and with the federal government. We may face more and even greater such challenges in years to come. Those challenges may include war. We could use a little encouragement, which is why I have made this post and attached to it two of the most inspiring career stories I have ever read. Attached are the texts of two lectures given to the American Council of Learned Society, both entitled, A Life of Learning. They were parts of the Charles Homer Haskins Lecture series, which have been given each year since 1983. The attached lectures were given by two very great scholars and authors in very different fields. The first was by the late Annemarie Schimmel, who was a scholar of religion, an author, and a professor at Harvard and other universities. The second was by the late Helen Vendler, another Harvard professor and a renowned literary critic, teacher, and author. I found these two lectures, in which each speaker described her life’s work, to be very inspiring. Neither speaker had been privileged in life. Both worked hard out of a love of learning, dealt with life and career obstacles and setbacks and, in their cases, struggled against academic prejudice against women. (At Harvard, when Vendler was finally admitted as a graduate student, the English department chairman told her, “You know, we don’t want you here... we don’t want any women here.”) Schimmel faced similar discrimination at Harvard. But both pursued what would ultimately be rewarding careers of study, teaching, and writing, because they loved learning. These and other Life of Learning lectures are freely available at the American Council of Learned Society website: https://www.acls.org/ We in contracting make and manage the administrative and business arrangements needed by the organizations we support to obtain the materials, supplies, systems, services, information (“data”), and construction they need to accomplish their missions. To do that well we, too, must become learned in our field. We must go beyond OJT and official online courses. We must pursue lives of learning. I was lucky to have been taught by my superiors and colleagues at what was the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO), now the Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC), and by Professors Ralph C. Nash and the John Cibinic of The George Washington University. I faced nothing like the challenges faced by Professors Schimmel and Vendler. My greatest challenge was my own immaturity, sloth, and stupidity. I hope you will read, enjoy, and find inspiration in the stories of these two intrepid, learned, and successful professionals. What professional challenges they faced and overcame! What professional lives they led! Haskins_2001_HelenVendler.pdf Haskins_1993_AnnemarieSchimmel.pdf

THE WHITE HOUSE, January 7, 2026 Executive Order: Prioritizing the Warfighter in Defense Contracting The White HousePrioritizing the Warfighter in Defense ContractingBy the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose.

True, but trust is not enough. You must commit to its nourishment and well-being.

The "right people". The deep-learners, hard-chargers, risk-takers, and OODA loopers.

I'm a prophet. Just announced: "Service acquisition leaders: Why this time will be different for defense acquisition" https://breakingdefense.com/2026/01/defense-acquisition-reform-dale-white-robert-collins-army-seiko-okano-navy-stephen-purdy-space/ Excerpt:

No, but expect the unexpected. What I will be watching for is what contracting personnel actually do after the RFO is complete. What procedures will they adopt, and whether those procedures make acquisition more timely and effective? I just read a GAO decision about the issuance of a $75.5 million task order for IT support services against a MATOC under FAR 16.5. MATOCs were the product of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1995. The request for task order proposals was issued in July 2024, the agency got six proposals, the award decision was protested, and the GAO sustained the protest in December 18, 2025 See Solvere Technical Group, B-423785, 14-page decision: A year and a half to solicit, receive, and evaluate six proposals and settle a protest, and it's still not done. So much for reform, innovation, and streamlining. Clouds appear to be gathering on the international scene, and developments will put pressure on the acquisition workforce. How the workforce responds will affect future legislation, regulation, and managerial reaction, and thus the future of the workforce. The workforce has been through a hard time and times are still tough. Strength, resilience, and ingenuity are the themes of the days to come.

2026 Careers will be made and broken during the coming year. There will be a lot of uncertainty in the acquisition workplace. Uncertainty about rules and processes and uncertainty about careers. For some, the uncertainty will present the opportunity of a career lifetime. Who are the "some"? Those who are curious., thoughtful, and ingenious Those who get what it's all about and move out sharply in hot pursuit Those who study, learn, and are able to explain to others. Study what? Learn what? Be able to explain what to others? Concepts Principles Rules Processes Procedures Methods Techniques Who are the some? Those who move out sharply! Those who do!

@formerfed Thank you!

Thank you for that, Keith! You and FrankJon have given my new year a happy start. Now, if only I can survive being 80.

I hate the phrase "tool in our toolbox." It's acquisition Madison Avenue𑁋something out of Contract Management magazine. The most important tool in any human's "toolbox" is their mind. It's the tool we must hone, master, and learn to use effectively.

@FrankJon My man!!! Someone has actually looked at a book I recommended. My professional life is not absurd, a la Sisyphus! Seriously, Thank you!

@Motorcity By "accept" do you mean we should uncritically take whatever AI gives us?

What else would it be? Are you suggesting that value is an objective measure, probably true?

@KeithB18 I don't know you mean by that. Please explain. Are you saying that qualitative value judgments cannot be described with numbers?

What do you mean by "qualitative decisions"? How should such decisions be made?