Congress is poised to overhaul the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System as it applies to Department of Defense contracts. The new DoD CPARS system will eliminate subjective performance assessments and focus exclusively on negative performance events.
The pending DoD CPARS overhaul will significantly impact the defense contracting landscape. Here’s what contractors should know about this major upcoming change.
The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act
The DoD CPARS overhaul is part of both the House and Senate versions of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. On the Senate side, the overhaul is set forth at Section 867. In the House bill, the provision is found in Section 836. While Sections 867 and 836 differ somewhat in their wording, the substance is largely the same.