Bill to modernize federal procurement passes House after stalling last Congress
A bill that would modernize the federal procurement system passed the House under suspension of rules Monday.
The legislation from Reps. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., and Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., would raise both the micro-purchase threshold and the simplified acquisition threshold by at least double — from $10,000 to $25,000 and a quarter million to a half-million dollars, respectively.
“These reforms streamline procurement, reduce wasteful spending, and improve accountability without expanding government or creating new bureaucracy,” Burlison said on the floor.
The bipartisan Federal Improvement in Technology Procurement Act (HR 4123) passed the chamber last Congress, but the companion bill stalled in the Senate. There is no current Senate companion.
Subramanyam said the current thresholds have not been updated in a “very long time” and “don’t reflect how much things cost these days, and these changes will finally allow agencies to move faster to purchase innovative technologies.”
Said Burlison: “Raising this threshold alone is estimated to save more than $40 million annually, while allowing contracting officers to focus on larger, higher-risk acquisitions where oversight matters the most.”
The bill would also allow advance payments for cloud computing services so federal agencies can utilize upfront payment discounts.
“This is common sense, and everyone wins,” Subramanyam said.
Several business and tech groups, including the Alliance for Digital Innovation — which counts Amazon Web Services, CrowdStrike and Google Cloud as members, among others — support the bill.
“As federal agencies strive to meet the increasing demands of a digital-first world, the FIT Act, if passed, will facilitate a competitive, flexible procurement environment that encourages innovation, reduces acquisition delays, and creates new opportunities for businesses to enter the federal contracting space,” the Alliance said in a June 2025 letter.
Another bill that would require the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to adjust some acquisition thresholds for inflation every three years (HR 7283) was debated but did not receive a final vote Monday.
