The SAM Exclusion List is the federal government’s public record of individuals and companies barred from receiving federal contracts, grants, loans, and other financial assistance. It lives inside SAM.gov, is maintained by the General Services Administration, and holds over 147,000 active exclusion records entered by federal agencies. Every agency checks it before awarding an award, and prime contractors have to check it before hiring subcontractors.
What the List Is and Who Puts People on It
GSA runs the database, but individual federal agencies enter their own exclusion actions into it when they debar, suspend, or otherwise disqualify a party.1eCFR. 2 CFR Part 180 Subpart E – System for Award Management (SAM.gov) Exclusions Once an action is entered, it applies government-wide. An excluded party cannot walk over to a different agency and try again.
The reach extends past the named party. Federal regulations treat “affiliates” as connected when one person controls another, or when a third party controls both. That covers interlocking ownership, shared employees or facilities, family ties, and new businesses formed with the same management after someone gets excluded.2eCFR. 2 CFR 180.905 – Affiliate Setting up a new company with the same people won’t restore eligibility.
One boundary worth knowing: SAM.gov is not the only federal exclusion source. The HHS Office of Inspector General runs a separate List of Excluded Individuals and Entities covering federal healthcare programs. OIG actions do appear in SAM.gov, but the LEIE contains only OIG-specific actions, so healthcare organizations typically check both.3HHS Office of Inspector General. Exclusions FAQs
Suspension, Debarment, and Voluntary Exclusion
These get used interchangeably but they aren’t the same thing.
A suspension is a temporary hold. It takes effect immediately when a federal official has adequate evidence that grounds for debarment may exist and decides waiting would put federal interests at risk. The evidentiary standard is lower because it’s an interim measure, generally imposed while an investigation or legal proceeding is still open.4eCFR. 2 CFR 180.605 – How Does Suspension Differ From Debarment? If formal debarment proceedings don’t follow within a reasonable period, the suspension must be lifted.
Debarment is a final determination that a person or company lacks “present responsibility” for government business. The debarring official has to find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the party engaged in conduct warranting exclusion.4eCFR. 2 CFR 180.605 – How Does Suspension Differ From Debarment? Once debarment is imposed, the burden flips to the excluded party to show responsibility if they want it reversed.5eCFR. 2 CFR Part 180 Subpart H – Debarment – Section 180.855
Voluntary exclusion is a third path: a negotiated settlement in which the party agrees to be excluded, typically to close out an investigation without a contested proceeding. It carries the same government-wide effect as any other exclusion.6eCFR. 2 CFR 180.1020 – Voluntary Exclusion or Voluntarily Excluded
What Conduct Leads to Exclusion
The regulations list a range of behavior that can put someone on the list. The through-line is conduct that calls into question whether a party can be trusted with public money:
- Conviction or civil judgment for fraud, embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsifying or destroying records, making false statements, or receiving stolen property in a public or private transaction.
- Antitrust violations such as price fixing, bid rigging, or allocating customers between competitors.
- Violating federal criminal tax laws.
- A pattern of failing to perform on government contracts, or a willful failure serious enough to affect program integrity.
- Knowingly entering a covered transaction with a party already debarred, suspended, or ineligible.
- Failing to pay a substantial federal debt where the debt is uncontested or all legal remedies have been exhausted.
- Failing to maintain a drug-free workplace as required by the Drug-Free Workplace Act.
A catch-all covers any other conduct so serious that it directly affects a party’s present responsibility.7eCFR. 2 CFR 180.800 – What Are the Causes for Debarment?
When bidding on federal work, contractors have to certify their own status, including any convictions, civil judgments, pending charges, delinquent federal taxes over $15,000 within the past three years, and prior contract terminations for default.8Acquisition.GOV. FAR 9.104-5 Representation and Certifications Regarding Responsibility Matters9eCFR. 48 CFR 52.209-5 – Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters The government often learns of disqualifying conduct from the contractor’s own filing. A false certification is itself grounds for debarment.
What an Exclusion Blocks You From Doing
Agencies may not solicit offers from, award contracts to, or approve subcontracts with excluded parties unless the agency head finds a compelling reason to make an exception.10Acquisition.GOV. FAR 9.405 – Effect of Listing Excluded parties also cannot act as agents or representatives for other contractors doing government work.
The prohibition reaches past direct contracting. Excluded parties are ineligible for grants, cooperative agreements, loans, and other federal financial assistance. For subcontracts, the restriction applies to any non-commercial subcontract over $45,000.11Acquisition.GOV. FAR 9.405-2 – Restrictions on Subcontracting Below that threshold, using an excluded subcontractor isn’t technically prohibited, though it draws attention in an audit.
Screening Duties If You Hold a Federal Contract
Most compliance failures happen here, because contractors treat the initial check as one-time rather than ongoing.
Before awarding any non-commercial subcontract over $45,000, a prime contractor has to require the proposed subcontractor to disclose in writing whether it or its principals are debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment. If the subcontractor is excluded and the prime still wants to proceed, a corporate officer must notify the contracting officer in writing before entering the subcontract and state the compelling reason.12eCFR. 48 CFR 52.209-6 – Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting With Contractors Debarred, Suspended, Proposed for Debarment, or Voluntarily Excluded
The bidder’s own responsibility certification must be updated immediately if circumstances change before award.9eCFR. 48 CFR 52.209-5 – Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters
Penalties for Doing Business With an Excluded Party
Federal agencies can disallow the costs of the transaction, meaning they refuse to reimburse or fund any work the excluded party performed. They can also terminate the award, issue a stop-work order, or pursue debarment of the party that hired the excluded entity.13eCFR. 22 CFR Part 513 – Government Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement)
In healthcare the numbers are steeper. If an entity employs or contracts with an excluded individual and federal healthcare payment is made for items or services that person furnishes, the entity faces civil monetary penalties of $10,000 to $50,000 per violation plus repayment of all amounts attributable to the excluded person’s work.14HHS Office of Inspector General. Fraud and Abuse Laws Because the screening tool is free and public, lack of knowledge isn’t a defense.
Getting Off the List or Shortening the Term
A suspended party can contest the action by submitting information to the suspending official, either orally or in writing, with anything the party considers important also put in writing for the record.15eCFR. 2 CFR 180.720 – How May I Contest a Suspension? Because suspension is temporary, resolving the underlying investigation is usually the fastest route out.
Debarment generally lasts no more than three years, though the debarring official can go longer when circumstances warrant. Drug-Free Workplace Act violations carry a maximum of five years.16eCFR. 2 CFR 180.865 – How Long May My Debarment Last? The same three-year general cap applies on the procurement side, with specific minimums for certain offenses.17Acquisition.GOV. FAR 9.406-4 – Period of Debarment Any preceding suspension counts toward the total.
A debarred party can ask the debarring official to reconsider or reduce the debarment’s scope or duration. The request has to be in writing and backed by documentation.18eCFR. 2 CFR 180.875 – May I Ask the Debarring Official to Reconsider a Decision to Debar Me? The excluded party has to show present responsibility: corrective action, improved compliance programs, cooperation with investigators, or changed management. Some agencies use formal appeal bodies; others handle reconsideration through the original debarring official.
How to Search the Database
The exclusion records are free and open to the public at SAM.gov. On the search page, select “Exclusions” as the record type. You can search by entity name, individual name, or Unique Entity Identifier. Results show the excluding agency, the reason for exclusion, the type of action, and any termination date. Filters include classification (individual, firm, or vessel), exclusion type, agency, location, and date range. If a UEI search returns nothing, try a name search, since not all records have a UEI on file.
Organizations that screen large numbers of employees or vendors can use the free public API rather than searching by hand. A standard API returns paginated JSON results, and an extract API supports bulk downloads for higher-volume needs.19GSA Open Technology. SAM.gov Exclusions API Healthcare organizations, government contractors, and grant recipients with ongoing screening obligations generally integrate one of these into their compliance workflow.