Disbursement Controls Resource · Reference Tables

SAM.gov Exclusions (Federal Contractor Debarment) Reference

The General Services Administration's System for Award Management (SAM.gov) houses the federal government's debarment and suspension records — the procurement-side counterpart to the OIG's LEIE. Any organization receiving federal funds, directly or as a subcontractor, is expected to screen against it.

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167,681

Active and historical exclusion records maintained in SAM.gov

3 yrs

Typical duration of a debarment action, though terms vary by cause

$30K

Subcontract threshold above which prime contractors must verify subcontractor eligibility

Program / Item	What It Covers	Why AP Should Care
Debarment	The most severe, longest-lasting exclusion type. Bars federal contracting and financial assistance government-wide for a defined period.	Treat as a hard stop. Reinstatement requires an official action, not simply the passage of time.
Suspension	A temporary, immediately effective exclusion imposed pending the outcome of an investigation or proceeding.	Status can change quickly — don't rely on a screening result that's more than a few weeks old for active procurements.
Proposed Debarment	Signals an active administrative process that hasn't yet concluded.	Treat with the same caution as a debarment. The outcome is pending, not favorable.
Search Tool	sam.gov/exclusions — searchable by entity name, Unique Entity ID (UEI), CAGE code, or individual name.	UEI matches are the most reliable identifier. Name-only matching on older records is more error-prone and needs secondary verification.
Legal Basis	Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.4 for procurement actions; 2 CFR Part 180 for nonprocurement awards and financial assistance.	Applies to direct contracts and flows down to subcontractors and subrecipients.
Flow-Down Liability	Prime contractors and grant recipients are responsible for verifying their entire supply chain, not only their direct counterparty.	A subcontractor's exclusion can jeopardize the prime's award — screen before onboarding, not after a problem surfaces.

This reference is provided as an educational resource for accounts payable, treasury, and shared services professionals. It does not constitute legal, tax, or compliance advice. Figures and list contents change; verify against the official source before acting.