DHS Pauses Most Contracting Deadlines Until After Shutdown Ends

The Homeland Security Department’s top procurement official issued a special notice extending due dates for all unamended acquisition deadlines after Dec. 22, the day the department ran out of funding and shut down.

“Given the lapse in funding, there are significant limitations as to the number of employees and the type of work that may continue to be performed in a lapse status,” Chief Procurement Officer Soraya Correa wrote in a special notice to contractors posted Wednesday to FedBizOpps.

The notice gives vendors up to seven days after the shutdown resolves to submit bid proposals if the deadline passes before the department reopens.

The deadline to submit questions on requests for proposals is extended, as well, but all questions must be submitted within five days of funding being restored. Responses to requests for information will be due three days after the shutdown ends.

All other aspects of the process will remain the same, including the time, place and format for submissions, according to the notice.

However, the blanket deadline extensions only cover procurements that have not been amended to account for the shutdown. Offers should abide by the latest amendments for ongoing solicitations that have been updated on FedBizOpps since the shutdown began.

Final deadlines might change once the shutdown ends. Department contracting officers have been instructed to update all outstanding solicitations as soon as their office has funding.

The directive covers seven offices under Homeland Security: Customs and Border Protection, Federal Law Enforcement Training, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Procurement Operations, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Secret Service.

Wednesday’s notice does not apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the Federal Protective Services.