The record

LegislationLegislation· Oct 2026
HR 5235 Passed both chambers

Sponsored by Nancy Mace (R)

Skills-Based Federal Contracting Act of 2025

Requires federal contracting officers to justify minimum education requirements for job applicants.

Tradeoff

Removes automatic education credential barriers from federal contract bids, letting skills-based assessments replace degree requirements. Costs less than $500,000 to implement government-wide.

What's in it

See official bill text

Costs less than $500,000 over 2026-2031 for federal implementation and reporting.

The less-than-$500,000 figure is only the federal cost to write guidance and conduct evaluation — the policy's real impact is on federal contractors and job applicants, who will face new skills-based assessment requirements instead of education credentials.

H.R. 5235, Skills-Based Federal Contracting Act of 2025 · Sep 2026

Passed the House by on February 23, 2026. Passed the Senate by on September 30, 2026.

  1. House

    Introduced

    (Sep 9, 2025)

  2. House

    Committee on Oversight and Government Reform(Sep 9, 2025)

  3. House

    The committee voted to send it to the floor

    Reported 44 - 0(Dec 2, 2025)

  4. House

    Passage of the bill

    Passed by (Feb 23, 2026)

    No individual votes were recorded.

  5. Senate

    Received from the House

    on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs(Feb 24, 2026)

  6. Senate

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted to send it to the floor

    Reported(Aug 6, 2026)

  7. Senate

    Passage of the bill

    Passed by (Sep 30, 2026)

    No individual votes were recorded.