The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is moving to simplify federal acquisition rules and eliminate a fragmented network of government systems as part of a broader effort to improve agency operations.
OMB Deputy Director for Management Eric Ueland discussed the initiatives Nov. 9 at the National Academy of Public Administration’s 2026 National Conference in Washington, D.C., describing management modernization as essential to translating administration priorities into effective government operations.
A key part of that effort is rewriting the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which governs how federal agencies purchase goods and services.
The FAR has not been comprehensively revised since 1984, Ueland said. The current rewrite, led by Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Kevin Rhodes, is intended to simplify the rules and give agencies greater agility in federal purchasing.
The overhaul is “in the middle of being completed,” Ueland said, describing it as an opportunity to achieve “the most significant simplification” of the FAR in decades.
Beyond acquisition reform, OMB is targeting a fragmented landscape of government technology and administrative systems. Ueland cited more than 117 human resources systems and 229 non-defense procurement systems, calling their proliferation “completely foolish and counterproductive” to timely decision-making.
The administration is also working to reduce and standardize the federal government’s public-facing websites. The number of government websites, which exceeded 7,000, had fallen to about 5,500 by August, Ueland said. The effort is expected to continue through America.gov, with the goal of making online interactions with government simpler and more consistent.
“These are just two of five or six or seven [modernization efforts] that I’m actually working on,” Ueland said, referring to the system-consolidation initiatives.
The broader agenda also includes revising federal grant-making rules to better align grants with administration priorities and clarify which officials have final approval authority.
Ueland framed the initiatives as management reforms essential to effective policymaking and service delivery, rather than simply technology upgrades.
A central challenge, Ueland said, is ensuring federal leaders view management as an essential part of governing, not an afterthought to policy and budget decisions.
“You can lay out the best policy, you can move the resources the most effectively, but if you don’t have your management and your systems organized as optimally as you could, you might fall short,” Ueland said.
That challenge is particularly important for officials entering senior federal positions, who may be focused on implementing administration priorities without fully appreciating how agency structures, management processes, and technology systems affect execution, he said.
Another priority is ensuring modernization efforts endure beyond a single administration. Ueland said many of the changes underway are intended to be “self-perpetuating and enduring,” particularly efforts to standardize government systems and improve service delivery.