The hardest part of FAR reform is culture, not the rules

The government has been hard at work rewriting acquisition rules since the spring and now is on the cusp of issuing final rules for what it has been calling the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul.

But rulemaking is only one part of the efforts needed to get agencies to buy goods and services faster and more efficiently, said Kevin Rhodes, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. He is the first Senate-approved OFPP administrator in six years.

“In this first phase, we said, ‘Let’s get after the regulation, the policy procedure.’ That’s difficult, but I contend that’s not the hardest part,” Rhodes said at Washington Technology’s Dec. 11 event on Navigating Disruption and Redefining Opportunity. The single hardest part is to change the culture.”

The FAR Overhaul has focused on trimming down the Federal Acquisition Regulation to its legislative requirements and moving the process toward more flexible and commercial-like buying processes.

“The FAR grew to over 2,000 pages because it was a checklist and a counter against litigation,” Rhodes said. “We don’t want a checklist.”

Many of the changes being made are intended to give more flexibility to contracting officers and other parts of the acquisition team, as well as allow them to find the best solutions. Contracting officers need to think critically and so does industry, he said.

"Everything is not going to be perfect, but as a leader, we have to make our people understand that that's okay and sometimes we're going to make mistakes," Rhodes said. "Fail with a purpose and as long as it's not nefarious, then let's get up, dust ourselves off and get back in the fight."

That is a huge change for the mindset of most contracting officers, who faced career consequences for trying innovative approaches that did not work perfectly. Rhodes said that when procurement officials worry about worst-case scenarios, they fall back on slower and more conservative ways of doing business.

The FAR Overhaul is designed to break down barriers between government and industry. Rhodes chairs the FAR Council and they have been discussing ways to improve the lines of communication with industry and commercial entities.

“There is nothing wrong with having a conversation with the companies you want to do business with, so we’re going to figure out how to improve that,” he said.

OFPP and the General Services Administration have finished the first phase of the overhaul through 49 master deviations. In early 2026, they will begin issuing draft final rules to complete the regulatory reforms.

To support the cultural shift needed, OFPP is working with the Defense Acquisition University and Federal Acquisition Institute on programs such as bootcamps. Practitioner guides and other training materials are also publicly available, which means that industry has access as well.

As the government moves through the reform efforts, Rhodes said that industry can play an important role and should actively submit comments.

“None of us know everything. I certainly don’t,” he said. “Help us; give us input.”

Industry should also ask questions. Reach out to contracting officers and program managers when something is not clear.

Companies also have to be ready to move quickly. Rhodes said he has received comments from some industry executives that they are struggling to keep up with the changes.

“Now think about that. Have you ever heard that about our government?” he said. “I love it. Keep running.”