Stephen Bacon Quoted by Washington Technology and Law360 on Executive Order Pushing Fixed-Price Federal Contracts

Stephen Bacon, a shareholder in Rogers Joseph O’Donnell’s Government Contracts Practice Group, was quoted in articles by Washington Technology and Law360 covering President Trump’s recent executive order promoting fixed-price government contracts. 

In the Washington Technology article, Bacon said a 90-day timeline for agencies to renegotiate their largest contracts could prove to be challenging. 

“The reality is the government can’t unilaterally restructure a contract like that,” Bacon said. “They’re going to have to get the contractor to negotiate.”

Bacon told Law360 that another significant change is that for contracts above a certain dollar amount, the contracting officer’s justification must be approved by a politically appointed agency head.

“That added review and approval process that has to go through a political appointee is going to create a layer of friction for contracting officers. It’s going to incentivize greater use of firm-fixed-price contracts, even in situations where you know it may not be appropriate,” Bacon said, warning that this could lead to greater disputes over costs between federal agencies and contractors.

Bacon regularly advises government contractors and represents them in disputes before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the Government Accountability Office, the Boards of Contract Appeals and the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. 

Read more from Bacon in Washington Technology and Law360.