Buy American Act

William Weisberg, attorney at Centre Law and Consulting, explains why the Trump administration’s latest “buy American” EO might not affect many procurements

Air Force Lt. Col. Sam Kidd, general counsel and a professional staff member of the Section 809 panel, said buying commercial products and services has become too cumbersome and slow for the Pentagon.

Peter Navarro, the assistant to the President and director of Trade and Industrial Policy at the White House, said 14 agencies spent more than $45 billion on infrastructure projects in 2016 without any Buy American requirements.

In today’s Federal Newscast, the Office of Personnel Management released the first Quadrennial Federal Workforce Priorities Report.

GSA, OMB held a listening session for federal employees, contractors to begin to develop an implementation plan for an e-commerce portal.

As agencies begin to implement the EO over the next eight months, the potential elimination of various carve-outs is going to be the most interesting thing to watch — and the thing that most worries the folks who pay close attention to Defense technology procurement.

President Donald Trump’s new executive order on April 18 will mandate agencies follow buy-American acquisition rules and close loopholes that allow for waivers and exemptions.