S979-119

What This Bill Does

The "Buying Faster than the Enemy Act of 2025" overhauls Department of Defense (DoD) procurement rules to make it easier and faster for the military to buy commercial products and services. It streamlines acquisition procedures by creating a default presumption that purchases are commercial (rather than requiring special military contracting), allowing faster sole-source follow-on contracts, and reducing bureaucratic contract clause requirements for subcontractors.

Who Benefits and How

Commercial technology companies and "nontraditional" defense contractors (such as tech startups, commercial software firms, and companies not accustomed to government contracting) are the primary beneficiaries. They gain easier access to DoD contracts through simplified general solicitation procedures, the ability to receive sole-source follow-on awards without additional justification, and significantly reduced contract clause "flowdown" requirements to their subcontractors. The bill also doubles advance payments from 15% to 30% of contract value, improving cash flow for smaller contractors.

Defense innovation consortia benefit from the requirement that DoD establish at least 5 consortia per systems command for prototype projects and follow-on production using streamlined acquisition pathways.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Traditional defense contractors ("prime contractors") may face increased competition from commercial companies that previously found government contracting too burdensome. The shift to commercial-first procurement could disadvantage contractors whose business models depend on defense-unique development contracts.

DoD contracting officers bear new procedural burdens when they want to classify a product as non-commercial. They must now prepare written memoranda with detailed justifications and market research results, obtain approval from contracting activity heads, and notify contractors of non-commercial determinations.

Key Provisions

• Commercial-first default: Products and services are presumed commercial unless a contracting officer formally determines otherwise with documented justification
• Streamlined follow-on contracts: DoD can award sole-source follow-on contracts to competitively selected vendors without additional justification
• Reduced subcontractor burden: Limits required contract clauses for commercial subcontractors to only those mandated by statute, consolidated into a single clause
• Doubled advance payments: Increases maximum advance payments from 15% to 30% of contract price
• Mandatory consortia: Requires DoD to establish at least 5 prototype/production consortia for each systems command and portfolio acquisition executive
• Enduring solicitations: Requires open-topic, ongoing general solicitations for each systems command and science/technology lab