FoRGED Act

The FoRGED Act aims to promote defense innovation by streamlining acquisition processes, modifying roles and organizations, expanding rapid acquisition and commercial contracting, enhancing competition in the defense industrial base, and reforming defense budgeting. It repeals several existing laws, adjusts acquisition requirements, and introduces automatic sunsets for future reporting requirements.

Sec. 101, Repeals of existing law to streamline the defense acquisition process: This section repeals specific sections of U.S. Code and provisions from prior National Defense Authorization Acts to simplify the defense acquisition process.

Sec. 102, Modifications to current defense acquisition requirements: This section amends definitions in title 40 and title 10 of the U.S. Code, including changing the definition of 'executive agency' to exclude the Department of Defense and making other modifications to acquisition requirements.

Sec. 103, Automatic sunset for future statutory reporting requirements: This section adds a new provision to title 10 that terminates any indefinite-duration report requirement in laws enacted after this Act's date five years after enactment, unless the law expressly states otherwise.

Title II, Defense acquisition roles, responsibilities, and organizations: This title transitions the program executive officer role to a portfolio acquisition executive, amends the Joint Requirements Oversight Council's responsibilities, modifies the role of the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, establishes a Joint Requirements and Programming Board, and requires capstone requirements for each portfolio acquisition executive.

Title III, Rapid acquisition and commercial contracting: This title eliminates a requirement for a determination before Milestone A approval, modifies acquisition strategy, exempts nontraditional defense contractors from certain regulations, mandates commercial treatment for certain products and services, expands the definition of nontraditional defense contractors, allows alternative capability-based pricing, raises procurement thresholds, modifies commercial solutions openings and other transactions, creates a default commercial determination, requires commercially acceptable payment methods, mandates public notice of contract awards, limits flowdown of clauses to subcontractors, modifies applicability of defense-unique statutes, establishes nontraditional contractor consortia, requires program management office competition, creates a middle tier acquisition pathway, codifies software acquisition pathways, addresses unfair competitive advantage, expands procurement for experimental purposes, and authorizes consumption-based solutions.

Title IV, Promotion of competition in the defense industrial base: This title establishes a program to enhance secondary sources and supply chain management for the Department of Defense, and requires the Secretary of Defense to establish an industrial expansion program that funds activities like developing military specifications and testing.

Title V, Defense budgeting processes: This title requires a comprehensive review of the Department of Defense budget structure to identify and fix issues with program management, modifies the Defense Modernization Account by removing certain restrictions, and makes amendments and repeals to budgetary requirements for defense acquisition.