If you have sold products or services to the federal government, chances are you may have experienced some challenges navigating the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). In April 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14274, “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement.” In short, he directed a rewrite of the FAR to include “only provisions required by statute or essential to sound procurement.” The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has dubbed this rewrite the “revolutionary FAR overhaul,” or RFO. Proposed rewrites to FAR Part 1 (overview of the FAR system), Part 10 (market research), Part 18 (emergency acquisitions), Part 34 (major system acquisition and earned value management system rules), Part 39 (information technology), and Part 43 (modifications) have already been published. There are 47 FAR parts to go, and we will monitor future rewrites.
Since the changes are not effective until approved through formal rulemaking, agencies therefore are being encouraged in the meantime to adopt them through the FAR deviation process. To date, some agencies, notably the General Services Administration, but not all, have done so.
The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO)
What? The RFO, led by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the FAR Council, is an initiative to rewrite the 2,000-plus page FAR into a more concise document, in plain English, and to the extent possible, without rules not required by statute. There also will be buying guides for federal procurement system participants that capture best practices. The streamlined FAR and buying guides collectively will be known as Strategic Acquisition Guidance, or SAG.
Why? According to President Trump’s Executive Order (EO), the FAR is an “excessive and overcomplicated regulatory framework … resulting in an onerous bureaucracy” and this RFO initiative will “create the most agile, effective, and efficient procurement system possible” by “removing undue barriers.”
When? The RFO began in May 2025 and is an ongoing effort. President Trump’s EO directed the FAR changes to be done within 180 days of the date of the order, or October 13, 2025. However, federal law requires changes to the FAR to go through the formal rulemaking process, which includes public comment, so the final FAR may be complete after October. As a result, the OMB is encouraging agencies to adopt the recommended changes through the FAR deviation process.
What is the impact to industry? Until the rewrite is finalized, companies will need to stay current with which agencies have authorized deviations to the current FAR and which have not, in order to know which FAR rules apply to their deals with the government. Agencies are not required to implement the changes on an interim basis; instead, “Agencies should generally issue individual or class deviations to implement the” proposed changes. This means contracting practices may differ from agency to agency until the RFO is complete, and companies should remain flexible.
What can you do during this process? In addition to staying engaged with your government customers, industry has the opportunity to provide input during the rewrite. During the rewrite, you may submit feedback on which changes are unclear and which may have unintended consequences.
The proposed changes, the related EO, agency deviations, and other guidance is available at www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul. Wilson Sonsini is monitoring this site and has summarized the changes proposed to date below. We will continue to follow this initiative and provide updates as they occur to stay current with this important and potentially impactful rewrite.
For questions about the RFO or any matter concerning your business with the federal government, please contact one of Wilson Sonsini’s Government Contracts attorneys.
RFO’s FAR Part Changes Summary
Below is a summary of the recommended changes to the FAR. There are 53 parts to the FAR and changes will be made on a rolling basis, beginning May 2, 2025.
FAR Part 1
Date: May 2, 2025
Overview: FAR Part 1 describes the FAR system in general. The rewrite reduced FAR Part 1 by combining sections and eliminating language from others, deleting tables, and writing provisions more concisely. For example, the original FAR 1.000 read, “This part sets forth basic policies and general information about the Federal Acquisition Regulations System including purpose, authority, applicability, issuance, arrangement, numbering, dissemination, implementation, supplementation, maintenance, administration, and deviation.” The proposed change reads, “This part describes the framework and guiding principles for the Federal Acquisition Regulations System (the System).”
Bottom line: The proposed changes to Part 1 should have little direct impact on contractors, but contractors should be sensitive to how their agency counterparts adjust to implementing them.
Highlights: The rewrite added a new section 1.109 that provides for the automatic termination of rules not required by statute, absent action from the FAR Council. Specifically, the new FAR 1.109 states, “All FAR sections that are not required by statute must expire 4 years after the effective date of the sections, unless renewed by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council.” A second highlight concerns the class deviation process. The FAR currently sets forth different deviation approval processes for each of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and all other civilian executive agencies. The proposed class deviation process provides one process applicable to all executive branch agencies.
FAR Part 10
Date: May 22, 2025
Overview: FAR Part 10 instructs government acquisition personnel about market research, and specifically, why it is important and how to do it. The rewrite combined sections, reducing it from four to three, and deleted language and subsections. The deletions are of discretionary rules, and otherwise make the text more readable. After the rewrite, FAR Part 10 went from more than 1,000 words to just over 300.
Bottom line: The proposed changes to Part 10 make commercial products and services the preferred solution, and so contractors may want to think about how to emphasize the commerciality of their offerings when engaging their customers. In doing so, contractors will want to take advantage of the new Part 10’s direction for agencies to have “responsible and constructive exchanges.”
Highlights: The proposed Part 10 states that government agencies “must” buy commercial products and services “to the maximum extent practicable.” The rewrite removes all references to small businesses, consolidation, and bundling in prescribing market research requirements. Gone also are references to information and communication technology accessibility standards (also known as, Section 508), contingency operations, and disaster relief. Moreover, there is a Practitioner Album, which consists of a high-level summary of the changes, a redlined version of the original FAR Part 10, interactive modules on market research techniques, and a perspective on industry days and requests for information. Last, the new FAR Part 10 states, “Agencies should engage in responsible and constructive exchanges with industry.”
FAR Part 18
Date: June 12, 2025
Overview: FAR Part 18 establishes flexibilities in emergency acquisitions, which both before and after the rewrite include contingency operations support; defense against and recovery from cyber, nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks; international disaster assistance upon request from the Secretary of State or the USAID Administrator; emergency or major disaster response support; and humanitarian or peacekeeping operation support outside the U.S.
Bottom line: Part 18 as rewritten does not make any substantive additions or changes. Contractors should expect agencies to conduct procurements during emergency situations using the same authorities and procedures they always have.
Highlights: The rewrite removed 22 subsections describing other acquisition flexibilities set out in other parts of the FAR (e.g., letter contracts, oral presentations, defense priority allocation system, and small business set asides) and cross-referenced them through a link, deleted references to the National Response Framework and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy’s “Emergency Acquisitions Guide,” and consolidated the rules on micro-purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds and use of FAR Part 13’s simplified acquisition procedures into one section. There is also a Practitioner Album, which consists of a high-level summary, redlined version of the original FAR Part 18, “accelerator” ideas on how to achieve consensus, as well as how to write shorter decision documents to make faster buying decisions, and training opportunities.
FAR Part 34
Date: May 2, 2025
Overview: FAR Part 34 sets forth policies and procedures for major systems acquisitions (i.e., those programs directed at and critical to fulfilling an agency mission, require the allocation of large resources, and warrant special management attention), and earned value management systems. The rewrite removed all of the pre-award guidance and processes FAR Part 34 had prescribed for major systems acquisitions and Part 34 now contains guidance for post-award activity only.
Bottom line: The proposed Part 34 changes relieve some administrative burdens for contractors that deliver major systems but should have no impact on contractors that sell commercial products and/or commercial services to the government.
Highlights: The rewrite deleted the requirement for agencies to identify “the key decision points of each major system acquisition and the agency official(s) for making those decisions.” It also deleted requirements for a program manager-approved acquisition strategy, and the guidance for concept exploration, demonstration, full-scale development, and full production contracts. Finally, the rewrite deleted solicitation provisions requiring contractors to give pre- and post-award notice of earned value management system compliance (FAR 52.234-2 and 52.234-3), as well as the solicitation provision for contractors to provide voluntary feedback on the pre-award and debriefing process (FAR 52.201-1).
FAR Part 39
Date: June 12, 2025
Overview: FAR Part 39 deals with information technology (IT) procurement, except for national security systems. The rewrite deleted the Scope, Definitions, and Privacy sections and removed reference to the rescinded OMB Circular No. A-127. It also created new Presolicitation, Evaluation and Award, and Postaward subparts and reorganized subject matter accordingly. For example, the rewrite placed Section 508 information in the Presolicitation subpart whereas before it was its own stand-alone subpart.
Bottom line: The proposed Part 39 changes may be significant for contractors. IT procurements have historically presented challenges for the federal government. Included on the website are several resources promoting buying practices that many government personnel, particularly inexperienced contracting officers, may adopt. Contractors would be wise to become familiar with those resources.
As for the actual changes to the FAR, more IT services contracts may include minimum education and experience requirements for contractor personnel, which may benefit those companies that hire and retain a highly experienced and educated workforce. Section 508 compliance, though not new, may be more of a priority given the word change to “must,” combined with a congressional mandate for agencies to assess their 508 compliance. Contractors selling information and communication technology (ICT) to the federal government should ensure their ICT meets 508 requirements or determine if an exception or exemption applies.
Highlights: The rewrite made a number of updates to Part 39.
- Renamed Part 39 Acquisition of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) from Acquisition of Information Technology.
- Added language to clarify that FAR Part 39 applied to acquiring ICT “faster” and to “new and emerging” ICT, text the original FAR Part 39 does not include.
- Changed the prohibition that agencies “must not” establish minimum education or experience requirements for contractor personnel to “should not.” Thus, agencies now have discretion to include such requirements in IT acquisitions.
- Deleted FAR 39.105, Privacy, as redundant with FAR 4.19, Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems.
- Deleted the requirement to include the clause at 52.239-1, Privacy or Security Safeguards, as redundant with FAR 52.204-21, Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems.
- Changed Section 508 compliance from “acquisitions for ICT supplies and services shall meet the applicable ICT accessibility standards” to “must meet.”
- Added a Practitioner Album, which consists of a high-level summary, redlined version of the original FAR Part 39, “accelerator” ideas for agencies to consider in buying IT, market research ideas when forming IT requirements, training opportunities, and a Practitioner’s Perspective on how to avoid vendor lock. The Practitioner Album is robust. It includes links to additional resources, such as exemplar solicitations, handbooks, and also links to other websites that have templates, handbooks, and additional tools on how to buy information technology.
FAR Part 43
Date: June 12, 2025
Overview: FAR Part 43 is about contract modifications. The rewrite made two deletions, but otherwise made no substantive changes. Though the aim of the rewrite is to remove rules not required by statute, the revisions to FAR 43 retained such rules “to support uniformity across the Government.”
Bottom line: The proposed changes to Part 43 were minor and should have no impact to contractors.
Highlights: The rewrite deleted FAR 43.100(a), which stated modifications did not apply to orders placed under an umbrella agreement, such as an indefinite delivery contract. Now such orders, so long as they are placed in accordance with the terms of the umbrella agreement, are considered modifications. Notably, this is consistent with current contracting officer practice. The rewrite also deleted administrative steps in FAR Part 43 for contracting officers when definitizing a change order, such as establishing a suspense system, conducting a cost analysis when appropriate, and collecting required information when doing a field pricing review. A Practitioner Album includes a brief summary of the changes, a redlined version of FAR Part 43, and an accelerator that identifies Defense Acquisition University’s Contract Modification Authority Decision Help Guide as a tool to assist contracting officers execute contract modifications.
