HR856-119

Passed House

Safe and Smart Federal Purchasing Act

119th Congress Introduced Jan 31, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

The Safe and Smart Federal Purchasing Act directs the Office of Management and Budget Director to review procurement management practices of defense and civilian agencies. The review must determine whether the lowest price technically acceptable source-selection process in Federal Acquisition Regulation section 15.101-2 has created national-security risk. Within 180 days after enactment, OMB must submit a report on the review to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Who Benefits and How

National-security procurement officials, mission-critical federal programs, higher-quality government contractors, cybersecurity contractors, defense contractors competing on technical quality, House Oversight Committee staff, and Senate Homeland Security Committee staff benefit because the review can identify whether LPTA buying rules create security vulnerabilities or undervalue technical performance.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Office of Management and Budget, defense agency procurement offices, civilian agency procurement offices, contracting officers using LPTA, low-cost government contractors, and Federal Acquisition Regulation policy staff bear review and potential policy-change burdens because OMB must analyze practices and report whether the FAR method creates national-security risk.

Key Provisions

  • Requires OMB to review defense and civilian agency procurement practices using lowest-price technically acceptable source selection.
  • Requires the review to determine whether FAR section 15.101-2 has created national-security risk.
  • Requires a report to House Oversight and Senate Homeland Security committees within 180 days.
  • Defines defense and civilian agency by reference to title 41 agency definitions.
  • Defines Director as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

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 OMB to review defense and civilian agency use of the Federal Acquisition Regulation's lowest-price technically acceptable source-selection method to determine whether it has created national-security risks, and to report results to House Oversight and Senate Homeland Security committees within 180 days.

Key Policy Areas

Government Procurement, National Security, Federal Contracting

Primary Purpose

Requires OMB to review defense and civilian agency use of the Federal Acquisition Regulation's lowest-price technically acceptable source-selection method to determine whether it has created national-security risks, and to report results to House Oversight and Senate Homeland Security committees within 180 days.

Policy Domains

Government Procurement National Security Federal Contracting

Substantive provisions

Identified Gains
  • National-security procurement officials
  • Mission-critical federal programs
  • Higher-quality government contractors
  • Cybersecurity contractors
  • Defense contractors competing on technical quality
  • House Oversight Committee staff
  • Senate Homeland Security Committee staff
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Cybersecurity contractors:
House Oversight Committee staff:
Mission-critical federal programs:
Higher-quality government contractors:
National-security procurement officials:
Senate Homeland Security Committee staff:
Defense contractors competing on technical quality:
Identified Costs
  • Office of Management and Budget
  • Defense agency procurement offices
  • Civilian agency procurement offices
  • Contracting officers using LPTA
  • Low-cost government contractors
  • Federal Acquisition Regulation policy staff
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Contracting officers using LPTA:
Low-cost government contractors:
Office of Management and Budget:
Defense agency procurement offices:
Civilian agency procurement offices:
Federal Acquisition Regulation policy staff:

Legislative Progress

Passed House
Introduced Committee Passed
Mar 4, 2025

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland …

Mar 4, 2025 (inferred)

Passed House (inferred from eh version)

Mar 4, 2025

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to …

Mar 3, 2025

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without …

Mar 3, 2025

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill …

Mar 3, 2025

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules …

Mar 3, 2025

Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H937-938)

Mar 3, 2025

At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were …

Mar 3, 2025

DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate …

Mar 3, 2025

Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H932-933)

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
7 mentions across 1 clause
+3 positive -4 negative

Civilian agency procurement offices, Defense agency procurement offices, Higher-quality government contractors

Positive-direction: Higher-quality government contractors, House Oversight Committee staff, Senate Homeland Security Committee staff

Negative-direction: Civilian agency procurement offices, Defense agency procurement offices, Low-cost government contractors, Office of Management and Budget

1/2
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Government Procurement National Security Federal Contracting
Actor Mappings
"omb"
→ Office of Management and Budget
"lpta"
→ lowest price technically acceptable

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