Senate lawmakers bring back acquisition reforms dropped from final 2026 NDAA

The fiscal 2026 defense policy bill contained some significant reforms to defense acquisition processes — congressional leaders said the legislation would deliver “the most significant acquisition reforms in a generation.” But several key provisions were scaled back or dropped entirely from the final version of the bill.

Now, some of the ideas that failed to survive negotiations last year are resurfacing in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal 2027 authorization bill while building on existing reforms enacted in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. 

One measure, for instance, requires contractors to notify the Defense Department if the cost of a product or service increases by more than 25% from the agreed contract bid or from what the government paid for the item in the previous calendar year. Contractors would also have to notify the government if the price is 50% higher than what the government has paid for the same item in the last five years.

Read more at Federal News Network