U.S. FAR Council proposes streamlined federal acquisition regulation framework

The U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council has proposed revisions to parts 1, 2, 4, 33, 39, 40, 52, and 53 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation as part of a governmentwide effort to simplify federal procurement rules and eliminate requirements deemed unnecessary for sound acquisition practices.

The proposal implements Executive Order 14275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement, and follows the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul initiative launched through OMB Memorandum M-25-26. The changes would reorganize acquisition regulations, rewrite provisions in plain language, replace the term "shall" with "must" or "will" where appropriate, and move many procedural requirements into nonregulatory guidance.

Part 1 revisions would introduce a "mission first" principle for federal acquisitions, add a regulatory sunset review process, relocate forms management requirements, and consolidate policies related to contracting officer representatives. The proposal also would remove the Acquisition 360 voluntary survey provision from regulation and place it in guidance documents.

Part 2 would revise procurement definitions, remove terms no longer used throughout the regulation, add new definitions related to information systems and controlled unclassified information, and establish a centralized acronym repository. The proposal also would revise the meaning of the acronym MAC to represent "multiple-award contract."

Part 4 would retain acquisition data standardization requirements while relocating security-related provisions to Part 40. The proposal would consolidate contractor identification and registration requirements and remove several existing provisions and clauses that would be incorporated into broader registration and maintenance requirements.

Part 33 would establish a formal statement of purpose for the bid protest system, require contracting officers to report protests to agency leadership, and permit broader disclosure of evaluation information during certain agency protest reviews. The proposal also would streamline references to Government Accountability Office protest procedures.

Part 39 would expand coverage from information technology to information and communication technology and incorporate requirements related to cybersecurity workforce standards and positioning, navigation, and timing services. Agencies acquiring products or services dependent on positioning, navigation, and timing services would be directed to use federal acquisition guidance addressing those systems.

Part 40 would consolidate multiple security-related regulations into a single framework covering supply chain risk, security prohibitions, exclusions, and controlled unclassified information. The proposal would create a unified reporting structure, standardize incident reporting timelines at 72 hours from discovery, and merge several existing security provisions and clauses into consolidated requirements.

The proposal also would reserve Part 53 by moving forms-related content into Part 1 and would seek public comment on a potential renumbering of FAR provisions and clauses to distinguish regulations issued under the overhaul from previous versions. Comments are due by July 23, 2026.