Defense Department (DoD) acquisition leaders will need to offer more extensive oversight and justification for the purchase of non-commercial products following a new memo issued Tuesday.
The May 27 guidance directs acquisition leaders at the departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force – as well as Cyber Command, Special Operations Command, Transportation Command, and other DoD agency directors – to prioritize commercially available products and services.
“Requiring activities, program managers, and contracting officers must work together to identify commercial solutions to fulfill DoD mission requirements,” wrote John Tenaglia, DoD’s principal director for defense pricing, contracting, and acquisition policy.
The memo also cautions against “casting truly non-commercial products or services as ‘commercial’ for the purpose of misapplying policies and procedures unique to the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services.”
The new guidance is part of the DoD’s effort to implement an executive order issued last month by President Donald Trump that directs Federal agencies to prioritize commercial solutions in procurement.
The executive order states that “agencies shall procure commercially available products and services, including those that can be modified to fill agencies’ needs, to the maximum extent practicable.” The order aims to promotes the pursuit of “more cost-effective” options for taxpayers and mandates heightened oversight of agency procurement decisions.
As outlined in the May 27 memo, approval authority for proposed non-commercial procurements now rests with senior procurement executives within DoD components. These executives may delegate authority to general officers, flag officers, or Senior Executive Service members, but only if those individuals have the expertise to assess whether such procurements align with agency interests.
By June 15, contracting officers must complete a review of all pending Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) actions – such as solicitations and award notices – for non-commercial products or services exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, which is currently $250,000. Already-awarded contracts are excluded from the review.
Looking ahead, before releasing FAR-based solicitations exceeding the threshold, program managers and requirement owners must seek approval to procure non-commercial solutions. Requests will require justification as to why a “Government-unique, custom-developed or otherwise non-commercial product or service” is necessary and provide documentation of the market research conducted to evaluate commercial alternatives.