The Biden Administration announced last week that they want procurement regulators to consider the impact of new rules on competition.  Instructions given to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) direct the agency to consider whether proposed actions might change the number of competitors and impact the ability of contractors to compete.  In the same breath, however, the administration is directing federal agencies to consider the cost of greenhouse gas emissions in making procurement decisions and loading up new cybersecurity requirements on contractors.  As they used to say on “To Tell the Truth”, “Will the real Biden Administration please stand up?”  Perhaps this is a case of one part of the Office of Management and Budget not knowing what another part is up to.  If so, it is incumbent upon industry to point out the inconsistencies in the Administration’s statements.  Industry should not take it for granted that the government knows that its proclaimed goals are inconsistent with one another.  Think of how often messages don’t make it from one part of your company to the other.  Fortunately, the message industry should deliver is easy to create.  The government cannot simultaneously add significant new rules to government acquisition and then claim to be interested in increasing competition.  It should be made clear that new regs are already driving small and commercial companies to the sidelines.  This not only hurts competition, but another claimed goal of increasing innovation.  If the Administration is serious about increasing both, it must dial back the steady drumbeat of new acquisition rules, especially those that have nothing to do with government procurement in the first place.