Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement

Enumerated powers · passes

President acts under Article II, Section 1 vesting of executive power and Article II, Section 3 duty to take care that laws be faithfully executed, directing subordinate executive agencies on procurement. Congress authorized procurement regulation through Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 spending power and Clause 18 necessary and proper power, implemented in statutes such as 41 U.S.C. procurement laws and 5 U.S.C. 101-104 agency authorities cited in Sec. 3. Order amends only executive regulations and retains all provisions required by statute per Sec. 4.

Bill of Rights · passes

No provision restricts speech, religion, press, assembly, petition under First Amendment, arms under Second Amendment, quartering under Third Amendment, searches under Fourth Amendment, or trial and punishment rights under Fifth through Eighth Amendments. The order governs internal executive procurement rules and creates no enforceable right against private parties per Sec. 7(c). No Tenth Amendment reservation issue because it regulates only federal agencies.

Individual liberty · passes

Order imposes no restriction on personal conduct, property, speech, labor, or belief. It removes barriers to doing business with the government and directs elimination of unnecessary FAR provisions per Sec. 2 and Sec. 4, expanding rather than restricting private freedom to contract. No compelling justification needed because no individual liberty is burdened; Ninth Amendment retained rights and Tenth Amendment reserved powers are unaffected.

Decentralization · passes

Four-question test: (1) Individuals cannot conduct federal procurement for the United States. (2) Local communities cannot manage nearly $1 trillion in federal agency acquisitions. (3) States cannot regulate federal executive procurement. (4) The order does not consolidate upward; it reduces central regulatory burden, directs removal of non-statutory FAR provisions, and requires sunset review under Sec. 6. This is the minimum necessary level because only the federal executive can manage its own buying.

Due process and takings · passes

No deprivation of life, liberty, or property under Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause. No taking of private property for public use without just compensation under Fifth Amendment Takings Clause. No retroactive penalty, presumption of guilt, or denial of notice and hearing. Order expressly requires implementation consistent with applicable law and appropriations under Sec. 7(b) and interim guidance consistent with applicable law under Sec. 5(d).