Compliance Stuff

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) released its Spring 2025 regulatory agenda as part of the government-wide  Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions , unveiling a slimmed-down list of procurement rules. In line with the Trump administration’s deregulatory priorities, t he FAR Council dropped several policy-oriented initiatives while maintaining a focus on two rules that strike at the core of procurement and information security — controlled unclassified information (CUI) and organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) . The agenda marks a narrowing compared with the Biden administration’s fall 2024 Unified Agenda, which had included more than 40 FAR-related rules. The Spring 2025 list contains fewer than half that number, reflecting what contractors and practitioners are already describing as the administration’s “one-in, ten-out” regulatory philosophy seen in  Executive Order 14192 . Rules Removed from Agenda Several rules championed by the...

  The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) is an  Executive Order  that seeks to reform the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to eliminate barriers to doing business with the Federal Government. This monumental change is akin to removing the traffic light at a four-way intersection and replacing it with a stop sign. So, will the government’s signal change improve efficiency, or will it cause more traffic and accidents? Let’s take a look. What is the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul? The  White House  intends for the RFO to streamline the procurement process. To achieve this goal, the FAR Council, the heads of agencies, and senior acquisition officials will amend the FAR so that it only contains 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.” To date, little guidance has been issued to determine which regulatio...

  As 2025 approaches, the FAR Council has released its   proposed  adjusted  acquisition thresholds . The proposed adjustment increases the thresholds to account for inflation and the Consumer Price Index. The most heavily used thresholds affected by the proposed increase are the   micro-purchase threshold (MPT)   and the   simplified  acquisition  threshold (SAT) . While the proposed adjustment affects several acquisition thresholds, it is important to note it does not apply to the Construction Wage Rate Requirements statute (Davis-Bacon Act), Service Contract Labor Standard statute, performance and payment bonds, or trade agreement thresholds. What is the Micro-Purchase Threshold? The proposed rule increases the MPT from $10,000 to $15,000. For purchases at or below the MPT, authorized agency officials can use a   Governmentwide commercial purchase card , which is similar to a commercial credit card, to make purchases without solicitin...