Insights

Washington – January 9, 2026: Crowell & Moring elected 15 new partners effective January 1, 2026. The firm also promoted 26 associates to counsel, and one counsel to senior counsel.

Washington – July 15, 2025: Crowell & Moring was honored to represent MP Materials in its landmark partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, making DoD the company’s largest shareholder. On July 9, MP and DoD signed a multibillion-dollar package of investments and long-term commitments, providing for, among other things, construction of the company’s second domestic magnet manufacturing facility. The agreements include convertible preferred equity, warrants, loans, and price floor and offtake commitments.

Washington – July 1, 2025: A Crowell & Moring team represented Parsons Corporation in its $89 million acquisition of Chesapeake Technology International, a defense technology firm known for its advanced capabilities supporting all-domain operations and the Indo-Pacific Command.

On May 7, 2026, the Department of War issued the long-awaited Proposed Rule to implement Section 847 of the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) regarding Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) requirements for contractors. The proposed rule would expand the applicability of FOCI reviews, requiring contractors and subcontractors on unclassified “covered contracts” — defense contracts and subcontracts valued in excess of $5 million that are not for commercial products and services — to submit FOCI disclosures to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) for FOCI risk assessment (and as applicable, mitigation) as part of contract award. This would effectively require DCSA assessment and adjudication of FOCI considerations prior to contract award. Thus, both cleared and uncleared defense contractors would be subject to the rigorous DCSA disclosure requirements, scrutiny, and FOCI mitigation. Crowell discussed the Section 847 requirements in a prior alert.

On April 13, 2026, President Trump signed the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act of 2026 (S. 3971) (the Act), extending the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs through September 30, 2031. The legislation cleared the U.S. Senate on March 3, 2026 and then was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 17, 2026 after a six-month interruption in program authority that halted the issuance of new awards across federal agencies. The programs’ previous authorization expired on September 30, 2025.

On February 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) Office of Investment Security (OIS) published a request for information (RFI) seeking public comments on how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) might streamline its foreign investment review process, including through the Known Investor Program (KIP). The RFI requests feedback on (1) proposed eligibility criteria and a draft questionnaire for the KIP, including certain defined terms, and (2) other ways that CFIUS and transaction parties can streamline aspects of the foreign investment review process. Written comments are due March 18, 2026.

Crowell & Moring will address individually small business size and each status that can be claimed in federal government contracting. We’ll cover: the eligibility requirements for each status; the certification process (if any); discussion of regulatory and statutory changes as well as any significant caselaw from 2021; and coming developments in 2022.

The regulations governing the interaction of small businesses in federal government contracting are complex and often undergoing changes. Please join us for a webinar series that explores the relevant rules and what government contractors should consider when claiming a particular size and/or status as well as considerations for entities that mentor and/or acquire small businesses.

This special edition of the Fastest 5 Minutes podcast covers recent developments related to domestic preferences including executive orders, final regulations, the Made in America Office, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and is hosted by Peter Eyre, Addie Cliffe, and Allison Skager. Crowell & Moring's "Fastest 5 Minutes" is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.