The Federal Acquisition Regulation requires the right for the government to terminate any federal contract “for convenience.”
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PresidentDonaldTrumpwonanonconsecutivesecondtermpromisingtocutgovernmentwastetothebone.HeformalizedtheDepartmentofGovernmentEfficiency(DOGE)asagovernmentalorganizationinanexecutiveorderonhisfirstdaybackinoffice.
Sincethen,thedepartmentanditsnominalleader,ElonMusk,havepersistentlymadenewsforbigmovesagainstfederalspending.Forone,Muskroutinelyclaimshisdepartmenthasuncoveredhugesavings,onlyforsubsequentreportingtofindanyactualsavingsweremuchmoremodest.
ButthegovernmentdoesseemtohavecanceledthousandsoffederalcontractsonDOGE’srecommendation,usingaprovisionoffederallawthatgivesthegovernmenttheabilitytocancelcommitmentslargelyatitspleasure.
UndertheFederalAcquisitionRegulation(FAR),mostfederalagencycontractsmustincludea“terminationforconvenience”clause,whichitdefinesas“theexerciseoftheGovernment’srighttocompletelyorpartiallyterminateperfo
