Last December, we previewed the significant cost accounting and pricing data disclosure changes contained in the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), including Section 1804(c)’s increase to the threshold governing the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data Statute (formerly the Truth in Negotiations Act, and still commonly called “TINA”). That change is no longer on the horizon: it is here. The FY 2026 NDAA was signed into law on December 18, 2025, and the higher TINA threshold has taken effect for contracts entered into after June 30, 2026. This post focuses on what that means, in practical terms, for prime contractors and subcontractors.
Continue Reading The $10 Million TINA Threshold Is Now in Effect: What Contractors and Subcontractors Need to KnowProcurement Reform
FAR Council Proposes 90-Day Deadline for Termination Settlement Proposals
By Frederic Levy, Elizabeth Witwer & Evan Matsuda on
Posted in Claims and Contract Disputes, Procurement Reform
As part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, the FAR Council has issued a proposed rule to revise FAR Part 49, Termination of Contracts, that would significantly accelerate the timeline for submitting termination settlement proposals following a termination for convenience. Under the proposed rule, contractors would be required to submit termination settlement proposals to the contracting officer within 90 days after termination—nine months earlier than the current one-year deadline. According to the FAR Council, the change is intended “to improve the efficiency of the settlement process by addressing delays experienced under the current framework.”
Continue Reading FAR Council Proposes 90-Day Deadline for Termination Settlement ProposalsProposed Rule Would Fundamentally Impact Federal Grant and Financial Assistance Framework
On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”), together with several other federal agencies, published a proposed rule that would fundamentally change many aspects of the regulations in 2 CFR Part 200 governing federal financial assistance awards, including grants, cooperative agreements, loans, and loan guarantees. The comment period will be underway until July 13.
The 412 page proposed rule states that it is aimed at increasing transparency, accountability, and oversight in federal financial assistance. It provides examples of “the types of wasteful spending” that it is meant to target, including recipients “potentially misus[ing] funds to provide services for illegal immigrants.”
While the proposed rule contains numerous changes, this post highlights some of the most notable.
Continue Reading Proposed Rule Would Fundamentally Impact Federal Grant and Financial Assistance FrameworkFrom Paper Reform to Practice: How Agencies Are Actually Implementing the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul
Over one year ago, on May 2, 2025, the FAR Council took the first concrete step in the administration’s “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul” (“RFO”) initiative by issuing the initial round of rolling model deviation guidance—a deliberate move to translate reform of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) from an abstract policy goal into acquisition text. That moment marked the beginning of a new implementation reality: rather than waiting for a single, comprehensive rulemaking, the government began operationalizing the overhaul in increments, part by part, through deviations. Now, a year later, the question for contractors is no longer whether the overhaul is “coming,” but how it is being implemented across agencies and systems. This is therefore a good time to take stock of where implementation stands, where friction is emerging, and what sophisticated contractors can do to stay ahead of the curve. For additional information, our prior coverage of the RFO roll-out can be found here and here.
Continue Reading From Paper Reform to Practice: How Agencies Are Actually Implementing the Revolutionary FAR OverhaulThe New Executive Order on “Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting”: What Federal Contractors Need to Know
By Jay Carey, Kayleigh Scalzo & Darby Rourick on
Posted in Procurement Policy, Procurement Reform
On April 30, 2026, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) titled, “Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting.” This EO directs agencies to make fixed-price contracts the default form of contracting, and requires agency officials to execute written justifications to use other forms of contracting. Of particular note for large contractors, the EO directs that, “[w]ithin 90 days of the date of this order, each agency head shall review and, to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with law, seek to modify, restructure, or renegotiate its 10 largest non-fixed-price contracts by dollar value . . . to facilitate use of fixed prices and performance-based incentives for contract deliverables to the maximum extent practicable.”
Continue Reading The New Executive Order on “Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting”: What Federal Contractors Need to KnowRevolutionary FAR Overhaul Incorporates New “Addressing DEI Discrimination” Executive Order Provisions
As we previously covered, on March 26, 2026, President Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14398, “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors,” to address “racially discriminatory DEI activities” in federal contracting. Among other things, EO 14398 directed the FAR Council to issue deviation and interim guidance within 60 days to implement the new contract clause set forth in Section 3 of the EO. On April 20, the FAR Council issued those model deviations[1] ahead of schedule, along with corresponding implementation guidance.
Continue Reading Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Incorporates New “Addressing DEI Discrimination” Executive Order ProvisionsPentagon Releases Artificial Intelligence Strategy
The past month has marked a series of announcements from the Department of War (the “Department”) emphasizing rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (“AI”) industry partnerships. These announcements signal opportunities for not only the defense industrial base, but also nontraditional defense contractors focused on technology and data.
On January 9, 2026, the Department released two key memoranda: (1) Artificial Intelligence Strategy for the Department of War, setting out measurable pace-setting projects, barrier removal authorities, and mandated data access; and (2) Transforming the Defense Innovation Ecosystem to Accelerate Warfighting Advantage, which aims to unify the defense innovation ecosystem under the Under Secretary of War for Research & Engineering as Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”).
Shortly after, on January 12, Secretary Hegseth delivered a speech, presenting an overhaul of the Department’s innovation and acquisition ecosystems.
The January 9 memoranda and Secretary Hegseth’s speech signal the Department’s intent to formalize a single, CTO-led innovation operating system designed to produce three outputs: next-generation technology, scalable products, and new ways of fighting—and to do it at “wartime speed,” with AI as the first major proving ground.
Continue Reading Pentagon Releases Artificial Intelligence StrategyFrom DAS to WAS: Secretary Hegseth’s Acquisition Overhaul and What It Means for Industry
By Stephanie Barna on
On November 7, 2025, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth used a speech at the National War College to unveil a Department of War (“DoW”) memorandum titled “Transforming the Defense Acquisition System into the Warfighting Acquisition System to Accelerate Fielding of Urgently Needed Capabilities to Our Warriors.” This memorandum, referred to throughout as the “WAS Memo”—formally redesignates the Defense Acquisition System (“DAS”) as the Warfighting Acquisition System (“WAS”), places the acquisition enterprise on a “wartime footing,” and sets forth the governance, structural, and process reforms that will shape how DoW capabilities are acquired and fielded.
This post is the second in a three-part series analyzing these reforms. In our first post, we examined the WAS Memo’s new emphasis on commercial products and offerings as the preferred acquisition approach. This post turns to the broader restructuring initiatives contained in the WAS Memo and its accompanying Acquisition Transformation Strategy.
Continue Reading From DAS to WAS: Secretary Hegseth’s Acquisition Overhaul and What It Means for IndustryContractors Should Not Overlook the Administration’s Call to Action on Commerciality
By Scott A. Freling & Daniel Raddenbach on
Last week, Secretary Hegseth delivered a speech at the National War College introducing transformations to the defense procurement process. Among them, the Secretary discussed awarding companies bigger and longer contracts for proven systems; removing “excessive and burdensome” requirements (for example, acquisition rules, accounting standards, and testing oversight); and empowering program leaders with authority to direct program outcomes, move money, and adjust priorities. Overall, the speech outlined a vision for a more agile defense procurement process that leans heavily on practices already proven and featured in the commercial sector.
Continue Reading Contractors Should Not Overlook the Administration’s Call to Action on CommercialityOverhauling the GSA Schedule
On October 17, 2025, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) announced that it plans to issue a Mass Modification to GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule (“MAS” or “Schedule”) Solicitation[1] and Schedule contracts in November 2025 (“Refresh”). Periodically, GSA may issue a Mass Modification to Schedule contracts to uniformly impose changes to the contract terms applicable to all Schedule contract holders, often as a result of changes in applicable law, regulation, or policy. This approach also ensures that existing Schedule contracts have consistent terms, even though with the evergreen nature of the Solicitation those contracts have been entered into at different times and are at different stages of performance.
This Refresh (i.e., Refresh #30) will implement several significant changes with the goal to align the GSA Schedule with recent developments in the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (“RFO”).[2] Although the full text of the Refresh is not yet available, GSA’s Refresh outline provides insight into the changes that are to come as GSA seeks to gain implementation experience with the RFO clauses, provisions, and ordering procedures through its Schedule contracts. Given GSA’s leadership of the RFO process, and this year’s Executive Order to consolidate domestic procurement of common goods and services in GSA to the extent permitted by law,[3] it is no surprise that it has acted quickly to revise its long-term government-wide contracting vehicle according to these recent developments.
Along with the Refresh announcement, GSA opened a 10 business day comment window on buy.gsa.gov, which we expect will close on October 31, 2025. Schedules contractors will be expected to accept the Refresh no later than 90 days from its release which is expected sometime in November. Below we discuss relevant background on the RFO process as it relates to the Schedule and anticipated changes to provisions and clauses in the Refresh. We will continue to watch for updates as GSA’s implementation of the RFO unfolds.
Continue Reading Overhauling the GSA Schedule