Federal News Network – The Federal Acquisition Council has awoken to the need to revise organizational conflict of interest rules for federal contractors. Congress mandated the change in 2022. Fifteen years have passed since the last revision. Haynes Boone procurement attorney Zach Prince has been following this rule and joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss.
The clarifications and increased flexibility for COs will be welcome as potential contractors will be competing in a changed foreign aid landscape. State will have even less expertise to prepare effective statements of work. Thus, the line between providing input in designing requirements and competing for the contract will need to be managed closely. This will be especially challenging in the absence of experienced USAID COs.
