Brad Matthews | July 20, 2025

(The Washington Times) — The public will be able to comment on a proposed rule banning federal contractors from offering government agencies paper straws once it enters the Federal Register on Monday.

The rule affects the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, NASA, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the Office of Management and Budget, per the Federal Register website.

The rule enters the register Monday at which point the 60-day public comment period, lasting until Sept. 19, will begin. To comment, people should go to regulations.gov and comment citing “FAR Case 2025-006,” according to the Federal Register website.

Under the proposed rule, those agencies would procure “straws with the strength and durability of plastic,” instead of using paper straws.

It would also establish a provision requiring a prospective federal contractor “to represent that it does not have policies promoting the use of paper straws or penalizing the use of plastic straws, that it will not provide paper straws in performance of the contract,” and that it will offer straws that are as strong and durable as those made of plastic.

The proposed rule is the result of a February executive order from President Donald Trump, mandating the creation of a “National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws,” which was published in March.

Paper straws have been an annoyance for Mr. Trump for years. Prior to his executive order, he wrote on his Truth Social platform that “Crooked Joe’s MANDATE, ‘NO PLASTIC STRAWS, ONLY PAPER,’ IS DEAD! Enjoy your next drink without a straw that disgustingly dissolves in your mouth!!!”

At a 2020 campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump said “Has anybody tried those paper straws? They’re not working too good, right? They want to ban straws. … The new straw, it’s made of paper, it disintegrates as you drink it. If you have a nice tie like this tie, this would have no chance. By the time you get finished, the straw is totally disintegrated.”