SAFE Services Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill directs the Defense Secretary, within 180 days, to revise the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement so contracting officers give preference to offerors that are United States companies for professional-services contracts whenever practicable and consistent with national security. Covered professional services include engineering, architecture, design, environmental consulting, financial consulting, program management, legal services, and similar FAR-defined services. The Secretary may waive the preference only when it would prevent DoD from meeting an urgent operational requirement or when no United States company can perform in a timely and cost-effective way, and must issue written justification plus notice to congressional defense committees within 30 days. United States company means a domestic legal entity with its principal place of business in the United States, not foreign-controlled, including qualifying joint ventures with at least 50 percent United States-company ownership.
Who Benefits and How
United States professional-services firms, domestic engineers, architects, consultants, and program managers benefit from a procurement preference that can improve their competitive position on Defense contracts.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Foreign-controlled professional-services firms, Defense contracting officers, the Defense Secretary, and congressional defense committees must comply with preference rules, waiver justifications, capability determinations, cost reviews, and waiver-notice oversight.
Key Provisions
- Requires DoD contracting officers to prefer United States companies for professional-services contracts.
- Limits waivers to urgent operational needs or lack of timely cost-effective United States company capability.
- Requires written waiver justifications and congressional defense committee notice within 30 days.
- Defines United States company and professional services for Defense procurement.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires Defense Department contracting officers to prefer United States companies for professional-services procurement, with written waiver and 30-day congressional notice requirements.
Key Policy Areas
Defense, Procurement, Professional Services, Government
Primary Purpose
Requires Defense Department contracting officers to prefer United States companies for professional-services procurement, with written waiver and 30-day congressional notice requirements.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- United States professional-services firms
- Domestic engineers
- Domestic consultants
- Program managers
Identified Costs
- Foreign-controlled professional-services firms
- Defense contracting officers
- Defense Secretary
- Congressional defense committees
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Mills (for himself and Mr. Hamadeh of Arizona) introduced …
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Domestic engineers, Foreign-controlled professional-services firms, United States professional-services firms
Positive-direction: Domestic engineers, United States professional-services firms
Negative-direction: Foreign-controlled professional-services firms
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology