Government Contracting Blog

Another week, another change in the world of federal procurement. Contractors shouldn’t let their eyes glaze over on this one though, even if it contains a lot of legal jargon. Last week, the White House released an Executive Order (EO) making fixed-price contracts the default method for federal procurement. The Executive Order, “Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting,” moves away from cost-reimbursement, time-and-materials, labor-hour and other non-fixed price contracts under Part 16 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) unless there is a special need for them.

It’s no surprise that the FY2027 White House Budget Request is heavy on defense spending, but one of the other major themes in next year’s request is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Since the Trump Administration took office last year, AI has been a large part of the federal government’s strategy. The White House wants to become and maintain the global leadership position in AI which has been outlined in several Executive Orders and documents such as “Amercia’s AI Action Plan.”

Information Technology (IT) modernization in the federal government has been on the rise for several years, and there's no slowing down in sight. It's safe to say that IT modernization remains a top priority, even across presidential administrations.

Even though our budget for 2026 is still being debated, it’s that time again for the annual budget request. The Trump Administration released the FY2027 budget request in early April, giving us a look into what next year’s spending could look like. As a reminder, the federal government Fiscal Year ends September 30, so FY 2027 will start on October 1, 2026.

The public sector isn’t necessarily known for being an easy market to access or navigate, especially if you’re a small business or lack experience in federal procurement. What many businesses miss, however, are the programs that can help them get their foot in the door and start selling to the government. They aren’t always well advertised, and may be buried among the acronyms and legal jargon companies sift through when they start their googling journey into government acquisition. One of these programs run by the Small Business Administration (SBA), called the 8(a) Business Development Program, exists specifically for economically disadvantaged small businesses.

Cybersecurity is not a new term or concept in the federal government, but we are seeing changes in the way the government plans to address it. The White House recently released a new National Cyber Strategy (NCS), marking the first major cyber policy update of Trump’s second term. With an increase on cyberattacks in recent years and our supply chain remaining vulnerable, the 2026 strategy is set out to be assertive and proactive in nature. This will definitely bring shift priorities in the federal government, and subsequently the world of procurement.