Alan Thomas, founder of Alpha Tango Strategies, and Bill

Gormley, president of the Gormley Group, join host Roger Waldron on this week's Off the Shelf for an engrossing discussion of the evolving federal procurement market. 

The discussion highlights the consolidation of procurement functions at the General Services Administration (GSA) pursuant to the president’s executive order. 

Thomas and Gormley, both former senior executives at GSA, share their insights on the role of GSA, the management opportunities, and considerations of consolidating federal

procurement for common products and services with GSA’s Federal Acquisition

Services (FAS). 

They also provide historical context to GSA’s role in federal procurement and how the consolidation will reshape the federal market.  As part of that discussion, Thomas and Gormley share their thoughts regarding consolidation opportunities and implementation strategies for GSA and FAS. 

Other topics covered include right-sizing GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule program, the impending rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and the

state of the IT GWACs.    

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Christine Harada, former senior advisor in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy during the Biden administration, joins Aileen Black on this week's Leaders and Legends.

Harada is currently the senior advisor of Project Redword at Advanced Energy United and is a dynamic executive leader with over 25 years of experience bridging the public and private sector.

That experience coupled with her educational background in aeronautics,astronautics, and business from MIT, Stanford, and Wharton, positions her as a versatile leader.

On today's program, Harada will discuss the challenges of leadership during today's changing times. She offers sage advice on approaches to keep teams focused on the mission.

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This week on Off the Shelf, Ken Dodds, executive vice president, and general counsel for the Coalition for Common Sense in Government Procurement, shares his thoughts on opportunities for acquisition reform.

Dodds discusses the opportunities to streamline GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), including potential reform of the underlying statutory authority to focus on best value results for customer agencies.

He also highlights the opportunity to put commercial back in commercial contracting by eliminating over 100 clauses from commercial item contracting.

Finally Dodds talks about small business contracting opportunities and the roadmap for reform.

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This week on Off the Shelf,  Moshe Schwartz, president of Etherton and Associates, provides a briefing on select provisions in the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the broad national security landscape driving defense acquisition policy. 

Schwartz outlines the traditional defense challenges, new challenges, and the budget constraints shaping overall defense policy. 

Additionally, Schwartz highlights key provisions from the FY 2025 NDAA that focus on supply chainrisks, industrial base, and the defense contracting process. 

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This week on Off the Shelf, Jason Workmaster, member and Government Contracts Practice lead at Miller & Chevalier, provides a wide-ranging update on key policy developments and legal trends in government contracts. 

Workmaster discusses the impact of the administration’s EEO/DEI Executive Order (EO) and what government contractors need to know, including how compliance programs will need to adjust.  He notes that the EO guidance includes a new certification requirement that will raise potential Civil False Claims Act liability for government contractors. 

Workmaster also talks about the new proposed organizational conflict of interest FAR rule, and he looks into his crystal ball and highlights the possibility that the new Congress may repeal some final rules issued by the Biden Administration pursuant to the Congressional Review Act.  It will be a question of timing and Congressional workload as to whether some final rules

are repealed. 

Finally, Jason briefs the Federal Circuit’s ACLR  decision regarding the adequacy of commercial record-keeping practices in the context of a claim.     

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Eric Crusius, partner at Holland & Knight, joins Off the Shelffor a cybersecurity update as well as providing his procurement expectations for the Trump Administration. 

Crusius discusses the likelihood of CMMC remaining intact and moving forward with implementation across DoD. 

He also provides his initial comments/analysis on the recently

proposed Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) rule, highlighting key

considerations for contractors. 

Turning to what to expect from the Trump Administration, Crusius shares his thoughts on Administration priorities and how they may impact/influence procurement operations. 

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This week on Off the Shelf  Alex Canizares, partner at Perkins Coie, shares his thoughts regarding False Claims Act landscape for 2025, including the anticipated priorities of the Department of Justice in 2025. 

Canizares also discusses the recent status of the legal challenge to the

constitutionality of the FCA’s qui tam provisions. 

He also addresses recent cybersecurity policy developments, including CMMC and CUI. 

Finally, Alex shares his thoughts and insights regarding the major government

contract policy trends and case law developments. 

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Bill Gormley, president of the Gormley Group, joins Off the

Shelf for a discussion of some the key procurement trends of 2024 and what to

expect in 2025. 

Gormley gives his thoughts on the key trends shaping interagency contracting

with a focus on GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS).

Among other topics, Gormley assesses the performance of the Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) in 2024 and the prospects for 2025.   In his assessment, Gormley outlines

how the FAS systems, organizational structure, and contracting workforce impact

customer agencies and contractors in the FSS marketplace.   

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This week Dr. Evan Loh, Paratek CEO, returns to Off the

Shelf to share the latest in the biopharmaceutical company’s partnership with

the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA’s) 

Project BioShield. 

Paratek’s antibiotic, NUZYRA (omadacycline) has been

designated “an essential” medicine by the FDA, and Loh provides an update

on the progress made in onshoring of manufacturing of NUZYRA, from the

production of API through finished drug product for both IV and oral

formulations. 

Loh shares the journey to domestic manufacturing, highlighting the critical role Paratek’s public-private partnership with BARDA played in developing manufacturing capability.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) along with biological threat actors are continuing and growing threat and Loh discusses the current environment and the key policy considerations in

combatting these and other healthcare threats. 

Finally, Loh talks about the potential that the results from the successful development of treatments through public-partnerships have the potential to be leveraged to support/protect

the warfighter.    

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This week Alan Thomas, founder of Alpha Tango Strategies,

joins Off the Shelf for a look back at 2024 and a look forward at what’s next

for 2025. 

Thomas provides his thoughts on some of the key trends from 2024

and what to look for in 2025. 

Among the trends he identifies for 2025 are the return of shared services, the continuous yet cautious growth in AI across government, the challenging IT GWAC landscape, small business policy and programs, and the potential impact of changes at the Office of Management and

Budget.

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