Policy Changes Highlight Contrasting National Security Acquisition Goals

Abstract

A proposed policy change and an Executive Order issued in the past week highlight government contractor's need to stay abreast of the opportunities and restrictions resulting from a rapidly changing national security policy landscape. On Friday, May 10, 2019, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) published a proposed rule that would amend the definition of a commercial items to allow suppliers of nondevelopmental items (NDI) sold to foreign governments to take advantage of certain streamlined acquisition procedures afforded to commercial item contractors, thereby decreasing the barriers to entry associated with the federal marketplace. On May 15, 2019, the president released an Executive Order entitled “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain to further his commitment to minimizing vulnerabilities in information and communications technology infra-structure and services in the United States.