Deviation Regime Watch
How federal agencies are dismantling small business contracting protections — in real time.
They Didn’t Repeal the Law. They Replaced the Rules.
Since early 2025, multiple federal agencies have begun issuing formal class deviations that suspend or rewrite key sections of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). These aren’t minor updates — they are official policy memos that override binding governmentwide rules and allow new acquisition frameworks to quietly take their place.
These deviations are now being used to strike the very provisions that created, enforced, and safeguarded the Rule of Two — the regulatory mechanism that guaranteed small businesses a fair chance to compete through set-asides. Without these provisions, the protections that once required agencies to include small firms in federal procurement have been erased in practice.
There has been no Congressional repeal. No regulatory transparency. Just a series of administrative actions that now nullify what was once a bedrock safeguard of federal competition policy.
You can read the full report here for a comprehensive explanation of how these deviations fit into a broader rollback of small business protections. This tracker shows not just which agencies have deviated — but exactly which regulations they’ve removed, what those regulations used to protect, and how rapidly this dismantling is spreading.
For small businesses, Congress, oversight bodies, and the public — this is how “removing a rule” becomes removing the right to compete.
Key Rules That Have Been Struck
| FAR Section | Policy Area | What Was Suspended |
|---|---|---|
| 1.102(b)(2) | Small Business Opportunity Mandate | Required the government to promote competition and support small businesses |
| 1.102-4(e) | Performance-Based Acquisition | Directed agencies to use performance-based methods wherever practicable |
| 10.002(b) | Market Research / Rule of Two Trigger | Triggered set-aside requirements if two or more small businesses were identified |
| 34.003(d) | Major Systems Accountability | Applied transparency and performance standards to large-scale systems contracts |
Live Deviation Tracker
This table shows which federal agencies have issued class deviations removing these protections. Most are using identical language — confirming a coordinated shift away from enforceable safeguards.
| Date Posted | Agency | FAR Parts Affected | What Was Suspended | Identical Language? | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/2/25 | SEC | Part 1, 34 | Small Biz Mandate, Major Systems Rule | ✅ Yes | View | Coming soon |
| 5/2/25 | DOC | Part 1, 34 | Small Biz Mandate, Major Systems Rule | ✅ Yes | View | Coming soon |
| 5/2/25 | DOL | Part 1, 34 | Small Biz Mandate, Major Systems Rule | ✅ Yes | View | Coming soon |
| 5/2/25 | MCC | Part 1, 10, 34 | Small Biz Mandate, Market Research Rule, Major Systems Rule | ✅ Yes | View | Coming soon |
| 5/2/25 | CPSC | Part 1, 10, 34 | Small Biz Mandate, Market Research Rule, Major Systems Rule | ✅ Yes | View | Coming soon |
| 5/2/25 | GSA | Part 1, 10, 34 | Small Biz Mandate, Market Research Rule, Major Systems Rule | ✅ Yes | View | Coming soon |
What This Means
The Rule of Two is no longer a reliable gateway for small businesses. Above the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, the regulations that once made small business participation mandatory have been replaced — or suspended outright.
What remains now is a discretionary policy framework where competition is optional, set-asides are silent, and agencies are encouraged to prioritize internal efficiency over inclusion.
Read the Full Report
Our publication, The Rule of Two After the Executive Orders, explains how these deviations fit into a larger rollback of small business protections. This page tracks that process.
What You Can Do
- Share this tracker with agency leaders, procurement officers, and elected officials
- Ask your Member of Congress to investigate how these deviations were adopted
- Use the Restore Fair Access™ campaign tools to amplify and engage