On April 15, 2025, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order titled “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement” that seeks to reform the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) and agency-specific supplements to contain only those “provisions required by statute or essential to sound procurement.” Along with a supplemental fact sheet, the Executive Order states that “any FAR provisions that do not advance these objectives should be removed.” This overhaul of the FAR has been widely anticipated during the first few months of the Trump Administration, although its implementation is expected to be a multi-year process.
The Executive Order directs the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (the “Administrator”), in coordination with members of the FAR Council, heads of agencies, and appropriate senior acquisition and procurement officials from agencies, to take appropriate actions within 180 days to amend the FAR to ensure that it contains only those provisions that are required by statute or are otherwise necessary to support simplicity and usability, strengthen the efficacy of the procurement system, or protect economic or national security interests.
Within fifteen days of the Executive Order, each agency is required to designate a senior acquisition or procurement official to work with the Administrator and the FAR Council to ensure agency alignment with FAR reform and provide recommendations regarding any agency-specific supplemental regulations to the FAR. The Executive Order then requires the Director of the Officer of Management and Budget (“OMB,” of which OFPP is a part) to issue a memorandum to agencies that provides guidance regarding implementation of the Executive Order and ensure consistency and alignment of policy objectives and proper implementation regarding changes to the FAR and agencies’ supplemental regulations to the FAR. OMB is required in the memorandum to propose new agency supplemental regulations and internal guidance that promote expedited and streamlined acquisitions. With respect to such proposals, the Administrator shall direct each agency to adhere to the “ten-for-one” requirement in Executive Order 14192, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” which requires an agency to identify at least ten existing regulations to be repealed whenever the agency promulgates a new regulation.
From an amendment perspective, the Executive Order directs the Administrator and FAR Council to identify all FAR provisions not required by statute that will remain in the FAR and consider amending the FAR to expire (or “sunset”) those provisions within four years absent additional FAR Council action. Finally, the Executive Order also directs the Administrator and FAR Council to consider whether any new FAR provision not required by statute that is promulgated in the future should include a provision stating that it will sunset after four absent additional FAR Council action.
The Executive Order also directs the Administrator and the FAR Council to issue deviation and interim guidance, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, until final rules reforming the FAR are published. The Trump Administration provided to aid in the implementation and interpretation of this Executive Order, which largely summarizes key points from the Executive Order.
McGuireWoods is actively monitoring the rapidly evolving legal and regulatory landscape in the early months of the new administration, including this unprecedented overhaul of the FAR. Government contractors and other entities impacted by the FAR are encouraged to contact McGuireWoods for legal advice and strategic support. For questions related to this Executive Order, or regarding government contracts generally, contact any of the authors or another member of the McGuireWoods government contracting team.