in effect
Executive Order 14275, signed April 15, 2025, directs a comprehensive overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) — the 2,000-plus-page rulebook governing how the federal government buys goods and services. It instructs the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the FAR Council to strip the FAR down to only what is legally required by statute or genuinely necessary for sound procurement.
Within 15 days, every agency with procurement authority must designate a senior official to coordinate with the FAR Council on reform and on trimming agency-specific supplement rules. Within 20 days, the Office of Management and Budget must issue guidance to agencies on implementing the order, including proposals for faster, streamlined acquisition procedures. Within 180 days, the FAR Council must publish amended FAR rules removing provisions that are not statutorily required or otherwise essential. Non-statutory FAR provisions that survive the rewrite may be given a 4-year expiration date, after which the FAR Council must affirmatively renew them or they lapse — a “regulatory sunset” mechanism. New non-statutory rules added after the rewrite would also carry that same 4-year sunset by default.
Federal agencies and their contracting officers will operate under a substantially shorter rulebook and must align their internal supplement regulations with the same streamlining goals. Companies and vendors — from small businesses selling office supplies to large defense contractors — that currently navigate complex FAR requirements to win government contracts may face a changed compliance landscape once the rewrite takes effect. The order does not create any legally enforceable rights for individuals or businesses against the government.