Executive Order 12931: Federal Procurement Reform
President: Bill Clinton
Directed agencies to simplify procurement, emphasize best value and commercial items, professionalize the workforce and measure acquisition performance.
Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 12931 still in effect? Yes. Executive Order 12931 remains in effect. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 12931 do?
EO 12931 implemented procurement-reform priorities alongside the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act. It ordered agencies to remove unnecessary procedures, focus on mission results and customers, use commercial items and simplified acquisitions where practical, consider past performance and best value, delegate micro-purchases and strengthen workforce training and accountability. It designated procurement executives and gave OFPP a government-wide improvement role, while revoking EO 12352. Later statutes created chief acquisition officers and modernized procurement institutions, but the order remains published in current code notes.
Before and after
Before the order
EO 12352 supplied an older procurement-management framework.
After the order
Agencies had updated performance, workforce, commercial-item and accountability directions.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| Agency heads | Review rules and align acquisition with mission results | Continuing management responsibility |
| OPM | Maintain personnel policies for a professional workforce | With agencies |
| OFPP | Coordinate government-wide reform and propose legislative fixes | With OMB and agencies |
What happened next
EO 12931 issued and revoked EO 12352.
The order remained in current U.S. Code notes.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The order governs executive management within applicable procurement, competition, appropriations and personnel law. Later statutes control where inconsistent.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
- GovInfo — EO 12931 (opens in a new tab) Order text
- GovInfo — current 41 U.S.C. notes (opens in a new tab) Official record
- U.S. Code — 41 U.S.C. § 1702 (opens in a new tab) Official record
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 14, 2026. How we research →