The General Services Administration has released two deviations to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, or FAR, and procurement practices to implement three recent executive orders, including the Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity EO.
GSA said Tuesday the deviations to the FAR will allow federal contracting officers to modify existing contracts and solicitations without imposing penalties on the contract holder or the government.
“These actions are the first steps in transforming the FAR into a sensible, common sense guideline to ensure that the federal government is working with industry as an attractive partner for business,” said Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA and a 2025 Wash100 awardee.
“The FAR has grown to more than 2,000 pages – it’s burdensome, outdated, and doesn’t allow agencies to buy at the speed of need, which leads to poor outcomes for the public we serve. The time is now to streamline the FAR to better align with commercial practices. GSA looks forward to working with the members of the FAR Council on this important work,” added Gruenbaum.
GSA is carrying out the actions in consultation with the chair of the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and under the authority of FAR 1.404 and GSA Acquisition Manual 501.404.
What Is FAR?
First issued in April 1984, FAR is a set of regulations that governs how the federal government acquires goods and services using procurement contracts.
FAR is codified in Parts 1 through 53 of Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations and is now issued under the joint authority of GSA, NASA and the Department of Defense.
