FAR Blog

FAR Blog 1: Executive Orders 14271 “Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts”, and 14275 “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement”, both signed April 15, 2025.

August 28, 2025

The contracting world shifted on April 15, 2025, when Executive Orders 14271 and 14275 were signed. Let’s review what both orders say to preface our journey through the new FAR.EO 14271 could have been issued in 1994, when the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) was passed, resulting in FAR Part 12 and its associated streamlined processes to acquire commercial goods and services. It would also have been pertinent in 1996, when the Federal Acquisition Reform Act (FARA) was passed, further emphasizing the importance of simplified commercial procedures. Although FAR Part 12 is widely used throughout the Federal workspace, various inspections and studies suggest commercially available products and services are still purchased using more time consuming and more expensive non-commercial procedures. EO 14271 directs agencies to analyze their non-commercial acquisitions, review market research and requirements documents, and ensure their requirements truly are not available within the commercial marketspace.Sometimes customers have a hard time accepting that their requirement is not “Government-unique.” As an example – shortly after FASA, FARA, and FAR Part 12 were issued, I procured parts for military vehicles (HMMWVs) deployed in Bosnia from a Hummer dealership in Macedonia. Parts for the commercially available Hummer were identical to the parts required for military HMMWVs. Some of the logisticians involved were concerned about inferior parts being used until they learned that Government-specific parts simply did not exist. The manufacturer used identical parts on military and civilian vehicles. The required parts were, in fact, commercial despite being installed on military vehicles.In summary: the requirement in EO 14271 for further analysis simply reinforces FASA, FARA, and FAR Part 12. Other than reiterating the importance of using commercial procedures whenever possible, and requiring a set of reports, EO 14271 does not change existing procedures, it simply emphasizes and enforces FASA, FARA, and FAR Part 12.How does this affect the Federal acquisition workforce? – it requires analysis of non-commercial requirements and adequate market research to confirm a commercial solution does not exist before issuing a non-commercial solicitation. This was already a requirement. I don’t see a change.How does it affect industry? Very little. You should expect more commercial product and service solicitations as agencies are required to document the need for non-commercial procurement. Also, when responding to Requests for Information or other market research queries, if you provide similar goods and services in the commercial marketplace, you should say so clearly. Everyone benefits from commercial acquisition procedures.Now on to EO 14275 and the total FAR rewrite. The executive order is quite clear – eliminate all non-statutory regulations to streamline the acquisition process. That sounds grand and sweeping – and to some degree it will be. However, it will not touch the major statutes that shape Federal acquisition, nor will it change the agency funding process. The Competition in Contracting Act, Anti-Deficiency Act, Small Business Act, Procurement Integrity Act, FARA, FASA, and the various labor laws associated with services, construction, and manufacturing – to name several but by no means all procurement-related statutes – will remain unchanged. Congress is unlikely to start routinely passing budgets early in the fiscal year, which means Federal agencies’ heavy reliance on pre-negotiated multiple award contract vehicles to save procurement lead time will remain unchanged. What will change are the extra rules, policies, procedures, and various red tape layered on top of the statutes. Although the processes will be simplified, the basic underlying tenets of Federal contracting will remain unchanged.How will this affect the Federal acquisition workforce and industry? That will require separate analysis of each revised FAR part. Although the FAR updates are not being issued in numerical order, I intend to start with FAR Part 1 in my next post and will work my way through the issued revisions in the most logical fashion I can.One final note: In general, this administration has also been focused on clear language, and the rewritten portions of the FAR to be discussed later in this blog are in clear, plain language. Other Federal acquisition professionals have written articles, analyses, and posts bemoaning the “dumbing down” of the FAR. I don’t see it that way. I welcome clarity in all aspects of Federal acquisition. A clearer FAR will empower contracting officers to make business decisions independently, without overreliance on legal advice. It may even alleviate fears of tradeoff decisions and break some agencies out of overreliance on price as the most important evaluation factor. Clarity and simplicity in regulations, in requirements documents, and in the resulting contracts will benefit all parties involved in Federal acquisition.

FAR Blog 2: FAR Parts 1 and 2

November 5, 2025

I have long been of the opinion that FAR Part 1 is the single most important part of the FAR. The most important statement in FAR Part 1 is what an old friend used to call the “Nike clause” – just do it. FAR Part 1 has always stated that the FAR does not give contracting personnel permission to follow a particular process. Instead, FAR Part 1 makes it clear that the FAR sets boundaries – if the FAR is silent on an action, and there is no statute or case law prohibiting it, then the contracting officer is free to take that action. The FAR is not expected to include specific permissions for every course of action; one looks to the FAR for prohibitions instead.The revised FAR Part 1 is shorter and clearer, yet says essentially the same thing it has always said. Non-regulatory content was removed from FAR Part 1 and posted elsewhere. Specifically, FAR approved OMB control numbers from FAR subpart 1.1 are listed separately at acquisition.gov. Non-regulatory content regarding best practices previously found in FAR Part 1 has been moved to practitioner guides and will be included in the forthcoming FAR companion guide.In summary: not much has changed, although existing authorities are clearer. Non-regulatory suggestions, best practices, and control numbers have been moved to other resources. The important aspects of FAR Part 1 – the boundaries of the FAR, the authority of the acquisition team as well as specific members of that team, FAR conventions and deviations – remain unchanged. The language is clearer and more direct. And what I consider to be the most important FAR statement (FAR 1.102-5(e) in the old FAR, FAR 1.102(b)(4) in the revised FAR) has been clarified to remove the confusing double negative and reinforce the authority of the acquisition team to innovate and adopt new practices.How does this affect the Federal acquisition workforce? I hope that members of the acquisition team may feel empowered or emboldened to be more experimental, to try new methodologies, to innovate. The authority itself is unchanged, but perhaps in its new clearer form (minus the confusing double negative), members of the acquisition team will embrace this authority more enthusiastically.How does it affect industry? It becomes more important than ever to understand your customer, the culture of the organization you wish to support, and the mindset of the acquisition professionals. It is also important to convey any ideas you may have for innovative contracting methods during market research and when submitting responses to pre-solicitation inquiries. Are you seeking to do business with an organization that is eager to innovate? Is your target customer willing to innovate? Remember that the FAR only governs the actions of the government acquisition team; the solicitation and resulting contract govern the actions of the contractor.What about FAR Part 2?FAR Part 2 is for all intents and purposes a dictionary. It defines the terms used throughout the FAR. The changes are surprisingly limited. The most significant update is the definition of commercial construction. Previously, construction was never considered to be commercial. This will significantly simplify the acquisition of construction, particularly repairs to existing buildings that fall within the definition of construction.The definition of “offer” is also clarified to reflect more clearly that proposals and bids represent firm offers from industry, while a “quotation” is not an offer. New FAR Part 2 goes on to define a “purchase order” as an offer made by the Government. This does not represent a change – this was always the case – it is simply a clarification.How does it affect the Government and industry? For those who procure or provide commercial construction services, the authority to use commercial services procedures will significantly simplify the process and result in administrative and price savings across the board.

Blog Post #3

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