OMB asks Congress to raise simplified acquisition threshold to $10M
The micropurchase threshold would hit $100,000 by 2030, shifting over 100,000 transactions out of full compliance and small-business set-aside rules.
TL;DR
OMB sent Congress 20 acquisition-reform proposals in July, headlined by a phased increase of the simplified acquisition threshold to $10 million for commercial products and services by September 2030. The micropurchase threshold would climb to $100,000 on the same timeline, decoupling from Buy American Act requirements above $15,000. The package also includes task-order protest threshold parity, permanent Commercial Solutions Openings authority for GSA and DHS, and acquisition workforce training funds. Several proposals have been submitted before; the thresholds and the move to a unitary acquisition framework across CFO Act agencies are drawing the most industry attention.
The 20 proposals land in the middle of the FAR overhaul's formal rulemaking push, with the first tranche of proposed rules for 17 FAR parts published in June and two more batches expected before year-end. The threshold increases run parallel to that rewrite, but require Congress, not the FAR Council, to act.
The administration's case is straightforward arithmetic: raising the SAT to $10 million for commercial buys would move roughly 14.6% of federal spend into streamlined procedures, over 100,000 transactions annually freed from full compliance requirements, formal certifications, and statutory small-business set-asides. Regulatory set-asides would remain.
Micropurchase and BAA
The micropurchase threshold increase splits the difference on domestic sourcing. Below $15,000, the Buy American Act wouldn't apply. Above that, up to the new $100,000 ceiling, BAA would stay in force. The administration frames this as preserving BAA for 96% of federal spend while eliminating government-unique friction on the smallest buys.
Industry reaction: excitement and "consternation"
Rich Beutel, a senior researcher at George Mason's Baroni Center, pointed to the unitary-acquisition-framework goal as the unifying theme. Alan Thomas, former FAS commissioner, read the threshold push as a bet on contracting-officer discretion, trusting the workforce to make sound judgment calls with less procedural scaffolding.
The concern from industry isn't about the direction of travel. It's about what happens to small-business participation when over 100,000 transactions exit the set-aside regime. The administration's answer (that regulatory set-asides survive) gives small firms a floor but not a guarantee.
Published ·Deep Fathom