The United States General Services Administration (“GSA”) has launched a “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul” webpage, at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul (the “FAR Overhaul”), to provide guidance as federal agencies implement President Trump’s executive order “Restoring Common Sense To Federal Procurement,” which requires the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) to be rewritten to “ensure that it contains only provisions that are required by statute or that are otherwise necessary to support simplicity and usability, strengthen the efficacy of the procurement system, or protect economic or national security interests.”

The FAR Overhaul contains links to the executive order and guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget on May 2, 2025, regarding this rewriting of the FAR (the “OMB Guidance”). It also links to agency class deviations issued as part of this rewrite of the FARs. “Class deviations” are temporary, agency-wide departures from the standard FAR rules and regulations and are used to implement immediate changes to federal procurement rules while the applicable agency is going through the formal process to amend the FARs.

GSA will be rewriting the FAR with class deviations in the coming months, and contractors should closely monitor Acquisition.gov for changes to the FAR, which may have significant effects (negative and positive) on their operations and contracting opportunities.

OMB Guidance

The Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) Guidance states that the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (“OFPP”) will lead the effort to overhaul the FAR, in coordination with the GSA, Department of Defense, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The OMB Guidance advises that:

• • Most regulations that are not mandated by statute will be replaced with “OFPP-endorsed buying guides that highlight proven innovative buying techniques for different phases of the acquisition lifecycle, as well as solutions and manageable procurement pathways for different types of common goods and services recognized by category management.” These buying guides will be referred to as “Strategic Acquisition Guidance.” The initial focus for the Strategic Acquisition Guidance will be on “on best practices for applying innovation and streamlining throughout the acquisition lifecycle and on specific categories of the most popular common spend categories, including information technology (“IT”), professional services, and facilities and construction.”
  • The rewriting of the FARs will occur in two phases:
    • Phase 1: The FAR Council will issue class deviations to each FAR part, on a rolling basis, which removes non-statutorily mandated regulations. As it issues these class deviations, the FAR Council will post them on the FAR Overhaul website linked above and solicit “informal” public feedback. The OMB Guidance states that “[t]he FAR Council will not formally respond to the feedback during the deviation guidance phase, but will consider the input, as appropriate, in the formal rulemaking phase.” Federal agencies are to implement the class deviations issued by the FAR Council within thirty (30) days of publication.
    • Phase 2: After the FAR Council issues class deviations for all FAR Parts (i.e., Parts 1 through 53), the FAR Council will then proceed with formal notice and comment rulemaking to adopt permanent changes to the FARs. OMB states that “[t]he rulemaking will be informed by the model deviation text, public input on the text received on the RFO website, operational experience with agency deviations, recommendations from agency points of contact identified pursuant to subsection (b), testing of the buying guides, and other appropriate inputs.” OMB also stated that any non-statutorily mandated FAR provisions will be subject to a sunset clause providing that they will automatically expire four years after their effective date unless the FAR Council renews the regulation.
  • Agencies are also directed to “prepare to streamline their FAR supplements to minimize regulations that are not based in statute or executive order and align with the FAR Council’s deviation guidance as the FAR is streamlined and reformed.”

Class Deviations

As of May 8, 2025, GSA class deviations have been posted for FAR Part 1 and FAR Part 34.

• • GSA Class Deviation for FAR Part 1: FAR Part 1 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 GSA Class Deviation for FAR Part 1 states:
    • Statutory requirements retained in the FAR Part 1 model deviation include, but are not limited to, the following: 31 U.S.C. 3702, Authority to Settle Claims, 41 U.S.C. 13 et seq, Acquisition Councils, 41 U.S.C. 17 et seq, Agency Responsibilities and Procedures, 41 U.S.C. 1908, Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition Thresholds, and 41 U.S.C. 3102, Delegation and Assignment of Powers, Functions, and Responsibilities.
    • The non-statutory requirements removed from FAR Part 1 are:
      • The list of OMB-approved control numbers contained in subpart 1.1. These control numbers are now listed on Acquisition.gov.
      • Subpart 1.2 – Administration; and
      • Subpart 1.5 – Agency and Public Participation procedures.

• • GSA Class Deviation for FAR Part 34: FAR Part 34 sets forth policies and procedures for use in acquiring major systems, which are defined as systems that exceed certain dollar thresholds. The GSA Class Deviation for Part 34 states:
    • FAR subparts 34.1 and 34.2 are retained because Subpart 34.1 deals with statutory requirements tied to 50 U.S.C. 4531 et seq. and Subpart 34.2 deals with Earned Value Management requirements tied to OMB Circular A-11.
    • The non-statutory requirements removed from FAR part 34 include the general guidance provided in sections 34.001 through 34.005.

GSA states that it will continue to update the FAR Overhaul page with more class deviations as they are issued.

Contractors

Contractors should monitor Acquisition.gov for updates, both to be aware of coming class deviations (or already issued deviations) and to offer comments on the GSA’s approach, including potential negative (or positive) effects. Small business contractors should be particularly aware of any changes to FAR Part 19, which contains FAR provisions regarding small business programs, including the Rule of 2, which requires agencies to set aside procurements for small businesses in certain situations. As the Rule of 2 is not a statutory mandate, the GSA may remove that provision, negatively affecting small businesses.

Small business contractors might also consider advocating to make the Rule of 2 a statutory mandate, to prevent its removal during this FAR rewrite. For example, Representative Velasquez has filed HR 2804, Protecting Small Business Competitions Act of 2025, which would make the Rule of 2 a statutory mandate, and thereby prevent its removal by GSA.

This article summarizes aspects of the law. This article does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice regarding your situation, you should contact an attorney.