Pentagon eliminates 2,700 rules in yearlong regulation purge

The Pentagon has eliminated 2,700 acquisition rules in an effort to roll back bureaucratic regulations at the Department of War.

Michael Duffey, the undersecretary of war for acquisition and sustainment, announced the acquisition regulation rule cuts during his keynote address before the Apex Defense conference on Tuesday, according to National Defense Magazine.

“We have a generational opportunity and a moral obligation to dismantle the slow, risk-averse bureaucracy of the past and build an acquisition system that delivers decisive capabilities at the speed of relevance,” Duffey said, according to the report.

Duffey said the rollback came as part of War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s acquisition reforms announced in November 2025. Hegseth unveiled several memos as part of the reform, aimed at redefining “how the Department develops requirements, manages