On Dec. 23, 2024, President Biden signed into law the “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025,” which is the 64th consecutive fiscal year that a National Defense Authorization (NDAA) has been enacted. The NDAA is primarily a policy bill and does not provide budget authority for the Department of Defense, but it does authorize the appropriation of budget authority. The FY 2025 NDAA covers numerous procurement-related reforms, including 72 such provisions in Title VIII—Acquisition Policy, Acquisition Management, and Related Matters, some of which apply to civilian agencies. This article comprehensively reviews the FY 2025 NDAA’s most important procurement-law related provisions, including those involving the Defense Industrial Base, supply chains, readiness, technology (including advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence), streamlining the procurement process, small business, and restrictions on purchases from and/or certain interactions with entities in China, Russia, North Korea and/or Iran.
Michael J. Schaengold, Melissa P. Prusock, Eleanor M. Ross, and Jordan N. Malone co-authored this article, which is published in The Government Contractor and is entitled “The Significance Of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act To Federal Procurement Law—Part I.” Download the PDF below.