Since President Trump issued Executive Order (“E.O.”) 14275, “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement” on April 15, 2025 as part of an effort to remake Federal procurement, the Administration has undertaken a variety of initial steps to implement its so-called “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul” (“RFO”). These steps include “streamlining” each Part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) on a rolling basis to remove “non-statutory requirements.” To date, seven streamlined FAR Parts have been released on the RFO page of acquisition.gov: Parts 1, Federal Acquisition Regulation; 10, Market Research; 11, Describing Agency Needs; 18, Emergency Acquisitions; 34, Major System Acquisition; 39, Acquisition of Information and Communication Technology; and 43, Contract Modifications. The public has the opportunity to provide “informal input” for each Part—the soonest of which is to provide feedback on FAR Part 10 by July 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM ET.[1] Although the volume of streamlined FAR Parts, non-regulatory resources, and commentary on acquisition.gov has started to proliferate in recent weeks, the extent to which these resources can and will be relied on in a strategic, accessible manner by the broader acquisition community still remains to be seen. Continue Reading Continued Signs of Progress in the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul
Early Signs of Progress in the “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul”
On Friday, May 2, the U.S. government announced further steps in its much-discussed plan to re-write the FAR by establishing a “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul” (“RFO”) website on Acquisition.gov, issuing written guidance to federal agencies, and releasing proposed revisions to FAR Part 1 – Federal Acquisition Regulation System and Part 34 – Major System Acquisition. This activity comes on the heels of recent presidential directives requiring agencies to examine and reform their approach to procurement of goods and services, including Executive Order (“E.O.”) 14275, “Restoring Common Sense To Federal Procurement,” and E.O. 14271, “Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts.”
As anticipated, the FAR re-write is spearheaded by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (“OFPP”) within the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (“FAR Council”). The RFO website proclaims that the re-write is “the first-ever comprehensive overhaul of the FAR” and aims to “return the FAR to its statutory roots, rewritten in plain language, and remove most non-statutory rules.” It also will result in “non-regulatory buying guides [to] provide practical strategies grounded in common sense while remaining outside the FAR.” In short, the goal is characterized as “faster acquisitions, greater competition, and better results.”Continue Reading Early Signs of Progress in the “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul”
Executive Order Issued To Expand GSA’s Role in Acquisition of “Common Goods and Services” and Information Technology
On March 20, 2025, President Trump issued executive order (“EO”) Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement, which will have significant effects on federal government contracting. The EO is intended to consolidate “domestic Federal procurement” within the General Services Administration (“GSA”) to “eliminate waste and duplication.”
The EO has two primary objectives:
- It grants GSA an increased role in the U.S. Government’s acquisition of “common goods and services”.
- It designates the GSA Administrator as “the executive agent for all Government-wide acquisition contracts for information technology” pursuant to 40 U.S.C. § 11302(e).[1]
We have summarized key provisions and potential effects of the EO further below.Continue Reading Executive Order Issued To Expand GSA’s Role in Acquisition of “Common Goods and Services” and Information Technology
Trade Agreements Act Certifications Undergo New Scrutiny
GAO’s recent protest decision in HPI Federal, LLC, B-422583, Aug. 9, 2024, 2024 WL 3823852, highlights the importance of making clear and precise Trade Agreements Act (TAA) compliance certifications when offering products for sale to the U.S. Government.
- On the one hand, GAO found that it was unreasonable for an agency to accept an offeror’s certification that certain of its products were “assembled in” a TAA-compliant country as evidence of the product’s TAA compliance. GAO reasoned that the referenced assembly — which was not described in the proposal — may not satisfy the TAA’s requirement for “substantial transformation” in that country.
- In contrast, GAO found that it was reasonable for the agency to accept the same offeror’s certification that other products had a TAA-compliant “country of origin”.
As these contrasting examples show, offerors should take care to ensure that their certifications are adequate to establish TAA compliance. A certification falling short of that standard could place an award at risk, and could even render an offeror ineligible for award. Continue Reading Trade Agreements Act Certifications Undergo New Scrutiny
Not to Be Outpaced: NDAA Presents Measures Addressing China
Following our recent overview of key topics to watch in the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2024, available here, we continue our coverage with a “deep dive” into NDAA provisions related to the People’s Republic of China (“China” or “PRC”) in each of the House and Senate bills. DoD’s focus on strengthening U.S. deterrence and competitive positioning vis-à-vis China features prominently in the 2022 National Defense Strategy (“NDS”) and in recent national security discourse. This focus is shared by the Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (“Select Committee”), led by Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).
It is no surprise, then, that House and Senate versions of the NDAA include hundreds of provisions—leveraging all elements of national power—intended to address what the NDS brands as China’s “pacing” challenge, including many grounded in Select Committee policy recommendations. Because the NDAA is viewed as “must-pass” legislation, it has served in past years as a vehicle through which other bills not directly related to DoD are enacted in law. In one respect, this year is no different—the Senate version of the NDAA incorporates both the Department of State and Intelligence 2024 Authorization bills, each of which includes provisions related to China. Continue Reading Not to Be Outpaced: NDAA Presents Measures Addressing China
Key Topics to Watch as Congress Works to Fund Next Year’s DoD Budget
It’s that time of year again: the House and Senate have each passed their respective version of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024 (“NDAA”) (H.R. 2670, S. 2226). The NDAA is a “must pass” set of policy programs and discretionary authorizations to fund Department of Defense (“DoD”) operations. Lawmakers are currently undertaking the arduous process of reconciling these bills, while jockeying to include topics of importance in the final legislation. The engrossed bills contain a number of significant provisions for defense contractors, technology providers, life science companies and commercial-item contractors – many of which we discuss briefly below and others that we will analyze in more depth in our NDAA series in the coming weeks. Subscribe to our blog here so that you do not miss these updates.Continue Reading Key Topics to Watch as Congress Works to Fund Next Year’s DoD Budget
July 2022 Developments under President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order
This is the fifteenth in a series of Covington blogs on implementation of Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” issued by President Biden on May 12, 2021 (the “Cyber EO”). The first blog summarized the Cyber EO’s key provisions and timelines, and the subsequent blogs described the actions taken by various Government agencies to implement the Cyber EO from June 2021 through June 2022. This blog describes key actions taken to implement the Cyber EO during July 2022.Continue Reading July 2022 Developments under President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order
OMB and Safer Federal Workforce Task Force Preview Forthcoming Guidance on Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate
UPDATED AS OF 10/26/2022:
Changing course after its August 31 announcement that it would not enforce the federal government contractor vaccination mandate absent further written notice, on October 14, 2022, OMB and the Task Force published an update stating that they plan to issue at least three new guidance documents with an eye toward potentially resuming enforcement of the mandate:
- First, OMB plans to notify Federal agencies about compliance with applicable injunctions and whether contract clauses implementing the mandate should be included in new solicitations and contracts.
- Second, the Task Force plans to update its November 2021 workplace safety protocols guidance related to the mandate. The updated guidance will provide a timeline for any implementation long enough to ensure that covered contractors can come into compliance as needed.
- Third, OMB will review the safety protocols guidance and make a determination on whether it promotes economy and efficiency in government contracting. If OMB makes such a determination, it will provide additional guidance to agencies on timing and considerations for providing written notice to contractors regarding enforcement, except as barred by any injunction.
RFI Begins to Chart Course for Federal Clean Energy Procurements
Two federal agencies recently released a joint Request for Information (“RFI”) in the latest in a series of concrete steps to meet the Biden Administration’s goal to achieve 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity (CFE)[1] in federal operations by 2030. The RFI, issued by DLA-Energy and GSA, offers industry a chance to shape future federal CFE procurements by providing information on carbon-free electricity supplied in competitive retail markets. Although not itself a procurement opportunity, the information submitted under the RFI will inform the parameters and conditions of CFE competitions that the federal government expects to begin as soon as this year, with contract deliveries starting in 2023.
Continue Reading RFI Begins to Chart Course for Federal Clean Energy Procurements
Contractors Have an Opportunity to Help Shape ESG Requirements
Addressing climate change has been a priority for President Biden since his first day in office. On December 8, 2021, President Biden continued that focus by issuing Executive Order (EO) 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, which includes a number of requirements directed at introducing sustainability to federal acquisitions.
This most recent EO announces an administration policy to achieve net-zero emissions from federal procurement by 2050 and comes on the heels of the public comment period extension to January 13, 2022 in response to EO 14030, Climate-Related Financial Risk. Although the administration will likely be rolling out additional sustainability requirements in the coming months, contractors currently have an opportunity to help shape an initial requirement that may end up effectively establishing an environmental, social, and governance or “ESG” reporting requirement.
Continue Reading Contractors Have an Opportunity to Help Shape ESG Requirements