Another Clearance Saved

Bill Savarino saved another clearance at the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA) for an employee of a contractor working at the U.S. State Department.  The case involved Guideline E – Personal Conduct and was based on allegations that he lied on his SF-86 about his reason for having left his employer.  The individual believed he was laid off due to a downsizing at the State Department.  However, his former supervisor at the State Department, a vindictive man with an axe to grind, asserted to OPM investigators that the State Department had fired him for cause.  A 5 hour hearing took place in San Francisco during which Bill Savarino cross-examined the former State Department supervisor, forcing him to admit that his statements to OPM investigators about firing the individual for cause were not true.

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District court holds that agencies cannot terminate grants based on post-award changes to agency goals and priorities

The District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently held that 2 C.F.R. § 200.340(a)(4) does not authorize grant terminations based on changes to program goals or agency priorities that an agency identifies after issuing a grant. This decision is significant because the administration has relied on 2 C.F.R. § 200.340(a)(4) to terminate billions of dollars in grants based on post-award changes to program goals and priorities. Josh Schnell and Sam Van Kopp represented 13 members of Congress who filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs in the case, who are twenty states, three governors, and the District of Columbia. Click this post to read the decision and our amicus brief.
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Cordatis prevails in Federal Circuit appeal

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Spotlight PA – “The Trump admin’s secretive, fast-tracked process to pick who will run new detention centers”

Josh Schnell was interviewed by Spotlight PA about the public contract law issues associated with ICE's efforts to turn Pennsylvania warehouses into detention centers. In the article, Josh stressed the importance of fairness and transparency in public contracting. Click the link to learn more.