Nextgov/FCW reported that the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council on Thursday released new model deviation text for six parts of the FAR as part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, or RFO, initiative.
In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to amend FAR to streamline the federal procurement process and eliminate barriers to doing business with the government.
In June, the FAR Council released model deviation text for sections related to emergency acquisitions, contract modifications and acquisition of information and communication technology, or ICT.
The overhauled FAR parts include sections related to administrative and information matters; required sources of supplies and services; acquisition of commercial products and commercial services; and information security and supply chain security.
The council announced the removal of FAR Part 51, Use of Government Sources by Contractors, and FAR Part 38, Federal Supply Schedule Contracting. These class deviations will take effect on Nov. 3.
Table of Contents
Commercial Acquisition
FAR Part 12 concerning the acquisition of commercial products and services has been reengineered in its scope, structure and operational mechanics to accelerate federal procurement and align it more with commercial practices.
The council said the changes reflect an effort to establish a user-centric part that advances flexibility and innovation when acquiring commercial goods and services.
The revised part structure consolidates all relevant guidance into process-oriented subparts: presolicitation; solicitation; evaluation and award; postaward; and micropurchases.
Forty-six provisions and clauses from other FAR parts have been removed as they are no longer required for commercial contracts. The change reflects a 30 percent reduction in the number of provisions and clauses that apply to commercial contracts.
Information Security & Supply Chain Security
The council has reorganized FAR Part 40 related to information security and supply chain security into three key subparts: processing supply chain risk information; security prohibitions and exclusions; and safeguarding information.
The subpart 40.1, for instance, now incorporates a section concerning sharing supply chain risk information.
The overhauled part also merged more than a dozen provisions and clauses into four: one provision and three clauses. The change is part of efforts to improve clarity and eliminate redundancies.
Related Articles
The General Services Administration has launched USAi, a secure generative artificial intelligence suite designed to help federal agencies experiment with AI tools and accelerate AI adoption. GSA said Thursday the launch of USAi advances the priorities in the White House’s America’s AI Action Plan, which seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership in AI through coordinated federal action, streamlined adoption and smarter infrastructure. A panel discussion at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Navy Summit on Aug. 26 will explore generative AI and how it optimizes decision-making within the service branch. Book your spot now at this GovCon networking event! Expanding Federal Government’s
The National Science Foundation and NVIDIA will invest $152 million in the development of advanced, open-source artificial intelligence models aimed at accelerating American scientific discovery. The public-private investment will support the Open Multimodal AI Infrastructure to Accelerate Science project led by the Allen Institute for AI, or Ai2, NSF said Thursday. Public-Private Investment for Open Source AI Models NSF will provide $75 million, with NVIDIA contributing $77 million. The initiative supports the White House AI Action Plan and aims to ensure the United States remains a leader in AI-powered research and innovation. “As called for in the AI Action Plan,
An upcoming strategy will accelerate the process by which the Department of the Navy can extract insights from data and transform them into new tactics and technologies, according to Stuart Wagner, chief data and artificial intelligence officer for the DON. At a recent event, the official shared that the final draft of the department’s data and AI weaponization strategy will be signed “in the next month or so.” He said that the document will identify six broad goals, which will include rapidly transitioning AI systems from pilot to operational, equipping personnel with data and AI skills, and facilitating collaboration with