Sara Draper

Latest from the policy & regulatory desk

• Lame-Duck Senate Fast-Tracks GAO Comptroller General Pick, Skipping Statutory Commission
  Policy · 2026-11-13

  HSGAC Chairman Rand Paul gave a bipartisan commission under 24 hours to name comptroller general candidates and set a Nov. 19 hearing for an unnamed nominee. Democrats call it a sh…

• SBA Recovered Under 1 Percent of $616.2M in Overpayments, GAO Finds
  Enforcement · 2026-11-13

  GAO says SBA recovered less than 1 percent of $616.2 million in overpayments it identified in FY2025, versus 62 percent government-wide, and has not run recovery audits on 7(a) or …

• Counter-Drone MOU Puts FAA Safety Review in Front of Five Departments' Drone Defenses
  Policy · 2026-11-13

  Defense, Transportation, Homeland Security, Energy and Justice signed an MOU creating a unified process to test and deploy counter-drone systems in the U.S., with FAA safety risk r…

• Commerce Extends Pause on 50% 'Affiliates Rule' Through Jan. 10, 2027, Leaving Defense Suppliers in Limbo
  Policy · 2026-11-12

  Commerce's BIS has again stayed the Affiliates Rule, which would extend export controls to foreign firms 50% or more owned by listed parties, pushing its start to Jan. 10, 2027 as …

• $331M DTRA Weapons Targeting Order Stays With Leidos After GAO Rejects ARA Protest
  Protests · 2026-11-12

  GAO denied Applied Research Associates' protest of DTRA's roughly $331 million task order to Leidos for counter-WMD engineering, modeling and software work, upholding the agency's …

• Section 815 Buyback Ban Faces Industry Push to Strip It From Final FY2027 NDAA
  Policy · 2026-11-12

  More than three dozen trade groups urged armed services leaders on Nov. 9 to drop Senate NDAA Section 815, which would bar Pentagon contracts with firms that buy back stock or pay …

• F-35 Parts Audit: 17,000 Parts Worth Up to $2.5B Missing From Pentagon Inventory System
  Policy · 2026-11-11

  GAO found the Pentagon still cannot reliably account for 26 million F-35 spare parts worth about $31 billion. More than 17,000 parts, worth $1.3 billion to $2.5 billion, were missi…

• DOT Owes Castro & Company Protest Costs After GAO Faults Guidehouse Internal Controls Award
  Protests · 2026-11-11

  GAO sustained Castro & Company's protest of a DOT Office of the Secretary internal controls call order to Guidehouse, finding the agency's negative findings on surge-staff resumes …

• CISA Rolls Out Revised Incident Reporting Form While Final CIRCIA Rule Waits at White House
  Policy · 2026-11-10

  CISA revised its incident reporting form to ask sharper questions on malware, social engineering and insider threats and to use MITRE ATT&CK, while the final CIRCIA rule with 72-ho…

• $8.1 Million Left Obligated After State Department's 2025 Contract Terminations, Inspector General Finds
  Policy · 2026-11-09

  State's OIG found errors across 2025 contract terminations: 25 of 30 sampled contracts lacked adequate notices, 10 had conflicting effective dates, and about $8.1 million sat in si…

• Contractor Donation Ban Would Reach Executives, 5% Owners and Affiliates Under Van Hollen-Garcia Bill
  Policy · 2026-11-07

  The Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act from Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Robert Garcia would extend the federal contractor political-contribution ban to corporate…

• SBA Adds 252 Governor-Designated HUBZone Areas in 18 States, but the Pace Tracks Past Practice
  Policy · 2026-11-06

  SBA says governors' petitions approved since January 2025 add 252 rural Governor-Designated Covered Areas to the HUBZone map in 18 states. SmallGovCon's John Holtz notes the tool d…

• ICE Cut and Loosened Detention Inspections While Adding 40 Facilities, GAO Finds
  Enforcement · 2026-11-06

  GAO-27-109299 finds ICE added over 40 detention facilities as its detained population topped 61,817, while DHS inspections fell in frequency, shifted to self-inspection and changed…

• $29.5M Lockheed Martin Settlement Ties Race-Based Pay Flags to False Claims Act
  Enforcement · 2026-11-05

  Lockheed Martin will pay about $29.5 million to resolve DOJ False Claims Act and EEOC allegations that it weighed race and sex in pay, hiring and promotion while certifying equal-o…

• Project Meridian Lawsuit: Watchdogs Say Musk-Luckey Pentagon Panel Breaks Advisory Committee Law
  Policy · 2026-11-05

  CREW, Public Citizen and POGO sued Hegseth and DoD tech chief Emil Michael, alleging the Project Meridian future-of-warfare panel led by Musk, Luckey and Gingrich violates FACA wit…

• FedRAMP 20x Grants First Full Class C Certification Under CR26 Rules, to Perplexity
  Policy · 2026-11-04

  FedRAMP granted the first CR26-compliant 20x Class C certification on Oct. 29, 2026. FedScoop says Perplexity earned it, letting GSA and USDA use its Enterprise and API Platform, w…

• Pentagon Offers Neros Up to $450M Conditional Loan to Build a Domestic Drone Parts Base
  Policy · 2026-11-04

  The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital offered Neros a conditional loan of up to $450M to build drones and NDAA-compliant motors, radios and batteries in Torrance for itself an…

• Navy's PAE Mission Systems: What the New Portfolio Executive Owns and How Contractors Get In
  Policy · 2026-11-03

  The Navy's Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Mission Systems folds parts of PEO C4I, PEO Digital, PEO IWS, PEO MLB and Project Overmatch into one portfolio under interim head Jim…

• Section 232 Robotics and Machinery Order Starts 180-Day Talks, Holds Tariffs in Reserve
  Policy · 2026-11-02

  Proclamation 11077 finds imported robotics and industrial machinery threaten U.S. national security but imposes no tariffs yet. Commerce and USTR must negotiate with trading partne…

• Japan Will Assemble AMRAAM Missiles Under US Operation Supercharge Deal
  Policy · 2026-11-02

  The US and Japan agreed Oct. 28 to set up an AIM-120 AMRAAM final assembly and inspection facility in Japan under Operation Supercharge. Location, capacity and the Japanese partner…