Clinger-Cohen Act

A government review of how efficiently and effectively a contractor spends government money when it buys from suppliers and subcontractors, and whether it follows federal rules in doing so. A CPSR is generally triggered when a contractor's sales to the government, excluding competitively awarded firm-fixed-price and commercial work, are expected to exceed $50 million over the next 12 months. DCMA typically conducts it within DoD. An approved purchasing system gives the contractor more flexibility in awarding subcontracts without advance consent.

The network of companies, facilities, and workers (government and private) that research, design, develop, produce, and maintain military weapons systems and equipment for U.S. armed forces. It spans prime contractors down through subcontractors and suppliers, and DoD designates it a critical infrastructure sector subject to specific cybersecurity requirements like CMMC.

DoD's standard framework for describing systems and how they fit into missions, organized into viewpoints such as operational, systems, and capability views. The best-known product is the OV-1, a high-level operational concept graphic that shows the mission, the actors, and how the solution fits in. Proposal teams often include DoDAF-style views, especially an OV-1, in technical volumes to make a complex solution easier for evaluators to understand.

The primary regulation governing how executive branch agencies buy goods and services, covering solicitation, source selection, contract types, clauses, and administration. Codified in Title 48 of the CFR, it's supplemented by agency-specific rules like the DFARS and is currently being rewritten under the FAR overhaul to simplify and modernize its structure.

A federal law (5 U.S.C. § 552) giving the public the right to request records held by federal agencies, subject to nine exemptions covering classified information, trade secrets, and personal privacy, among others. Contractors run into FOIA when competitors request copies of awarded contracts or proposals, making it important to properly mark proprietary data for exemption.