On 3/27/2025 at 6:08 PM, Melissa Rider said:

My agency firewall has problems allowing me to read the 100 page FAR posted on Linkedin.  Is there another way to view it?  

www.100pagefar.com or on your phone.

On 3/30/2025 at 8:43 AM, Vern Edwards said:

Why are there "gaps" in statutes?

Congress enacts statutes (positive law) that delegate certain powers to agencies (that’s why they are called agencies), such as the power to buy goods and services.  Congress leaves "gaps" in statutes for a number reasons, ignorance and carelessness being among them, and also because its members cannot be expert in everything the government does𑁋like fight wars, design weapon systems, maintain public health, and control air traffic𑁋so they leave some details about implementation to people they expect to know more. And gaps may emerge after the enactment of laws due to unanticipated developments.

As agents of Congress, agencies publish regulations (administrative law) to inform the public about and direct their personnel concerning how they will use their delegated powers. The FAR is one such regulation. In doing so, agencies have as much discretion in the use of their delegated powers as the Constitution and the laws allow and as they choose to exercise.

The courts and various administrative tribunals review agency actions to determine whether they have been done in compliance with statutes and their own regulations. Their decisions often lead agencies to change their regulatitons, and sometimes prompt Congress to amend their laws.

A 100-page FAR would probably not be long enough to implement all the statutes that Congress has enacted to govern procurement. But a regulation that strikes out all text that does not implement a statute would presumably give agencies a lot more discretion than their own regulations currently allow. The question is whether the workforce is competent enough to exercise such discretion wisely.

I sure hope so -- we also need political cover. I guess we'll find out.

@Ster Whitehead Glad to see you joined here. Hope you jump in all the topics including this one.