The Trump Administration, in collaboration with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council, has released further FAR sections as part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO): FAR Parts 6, 29, and 31.
Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Background
As a reminder, the RFO stems from two Executive Orders in April of 2025, “Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts” and “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement.” Among the Administration’s stated goals were to make procurement cheaper and more efficient by purchasing more commercial goods and services and to streamline the regulations contained within the FAR.
Each RFO FAR section has an accompanying “Practitioner Album,” explaining the changes made to the section and containing “smart accelerators,” or practical advice on each topic for agency contracting personnel. Agencies will issue agency-specific deviations implementing the RFO FAR until the final version has completed the notice-and-comment rulemaking process. The FAR Council has stated that it also will publish a FAR Companion Guide, which will compile some of the language removed from the FAR and serve as a non-mandatory reference guide for contracting personnel.
The FAR Council has released what it refers to as “model” versions of the following FAR sections to date:
- Part 1 – Federal Acquisition Regulation System
- Part 6 – Competition Requirements
- Part 10 – Market Research
- Part 11 – Describing Agency Needs
- Part 18 – Emergency Acquisitions
- Part 29 – Taxes
- Part 31 – Contract Cost Principles and Procedures
- Part 34 – Major System Acquisition
- Part 39 – Acquisition of Information and Communication Technology
- Part 43 – Contract Modifications
- Part 52 – Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses*
*The Administration is updating Part 52 piecemeal as it releases related FAR Parts.
Most recently, the FAR Council released FAR Parts 6, 29, and 31.
FAR Part 6 – Competition Requirements
Although the RFO significantly streamlines and shortens FAR Part 6, the changes should not have a significant effect on the procurement process. Perhaps the only clear substantive change is that RFO FAR Part 6 removes some sole source justification requirements that were not based in statute.
Small business contractors should note, however, that the accompanying Practitioner Album promotes “fusion procurements,” which are procurements comprised of multiple tasks competed under one solicitation, but with potential to award each task to a different vendor. Among other uses, fusion procurements may allow agencies to break historically sole-sourced requirements into smaller pieces, which could increase opportunities for small businesses to take a piece of the pie. Likewise, the Practitioner Album highlights phased proposal submission as a way to lower barriers to contractors like small businesses who cannot or may not want to devote significant resources to a proposal with no certainty of winning the contract.
FAR Part 29 – Taxes
RFO FAR Part 29 is primarily focused on plain language rewrites, streamlining, and instructing contracting officers to seek tax-related cost savings for the government. The RFO removes outdated and redundant regulatory language; for example, RFO FAR Part 29 removes FAR 29.402-4 prescribing tax requirements for foreign contracts in Afghanistan because the Status of Forces Agreement expired in 2021.
There are several other changes of which contractors should be aware:
- RFO FAR 29.1 requires, rather than recommends, contracting officials to consult with agency legal counsel for any tax issues that arise, including to determine whether a particular tax is applicable or the contractor or agency is entitled to a tax exemption.
- Similarly, RFO FAR 29.2 now requires contracting officials to request offers on a tax-exclusive basis when the law exempts the government from federal excise taxes, unless inappropriate under the circumstances.
FAR Part 31 – Contract Cost Principles and Procedures
Thankfully given the significant investment contractors have made in building compliant accounting systems, RFO FAR Part 31 does not substantively change the cost principles as we know them. Some definitions were removed, but otherwise it is business as usual.
What Is Next
The FAR Council is soliciting feedback from interested parties on FAR Part 6 by August 11, 2025, and FAR Parts 29 and 31 by September 1, 2025. The Administration further previewed in a recent memorandum the release of RFO FAR Part 8 – Required Sources of Supplies and Services, which will amend FAR 8.004 to require that agencies purchase from existing government-wide contracts for commercial products and services where available rather than awarding a new contract.
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