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FAR Council Introduces Limits on the Single-Offer Adequate Price Competition Exception

Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.01.19

On June 12, 2019, the FAR Council issued a final rule amending the FAR to address an exception from certified cost or pricing data requirements when price is based on adequate competition.  In particular, the final rule amends the definition of “adequate price competition” in FAR 15.403-1(c) for submission of certified cost or pricing data to DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard so that the adequate price competition exception now applies only when “two or more responsible offerors, competing independently, submit priced offers that satisfy the Government’s expressed requirement.”  This means that if only one offer is received, even if submitted with the expectation of competition, the exception no longer applies.  For all other agencies, the exception still applies even when only one offer is received, provided there is a reasonable expectation that two or more responsible offerors would submit offers, or price analysis demonstrates that the proposed price is reasonable.  Though this rule represents a change to the FAR, we note that a similar rule has existed in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement at 215.371-3 for a number of years.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future....