FAR Blog
Lynn O'Connell
Welcome to the FAR Blog! Over the next several weeks, I will be analyzing the FAR rewrite part by part from both the Federal perspective and industry perspective. What is to follow is my personal analysis; I do not speak for the Government. This is not a
political blog – if you want to address whether these changes should have been instituted, or how it should have happened, you will need to look elsewhere. I am simply addressing what has happened – not why – and how it may affect contracting
officers, contractors, program managers, and aspiring contractors.
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.
Blog Post #2
Coming Soon
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