The Trump Administration issued another Executive Order impacting federal procurement—this one aimed at consolidating government purchasing at the General Services Administration (GSA). Released March 20, 2025, “Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement” (the Consolidation EO) seeks to channel through GSA all purchases of “common goods and services” used by government agencies.
The Consolidation EO also requires that the GSA Administrator be made the “executive agent” for government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) of information technology (IT), giving the GSA Administrator the power to align IT across the government. To carry out this directive, the GSA Administrator could terminate IT GWACs and other multiple-award contracts that it considers duplicative, redundant, or inefficient.
Of course, GSA already handles many government-wide procurements, including some IT, through its Multiple Award Schedule Program and other buying programs and contract vehicles. GSA has long harnessed the government’s purchasing power to obtain lower prices for things that the government frequently purchases. However, some agencies do not tap into this resource, and some government-wide purchasing is managed by agencies other than GSA. For example, procurements of medical devices and pharmaceuticals are led by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DOD). This is logical given that the VA and DOD each run health care facilities, making them the primary government purchasers of medical goods and services. But under the Consolidation EO, GSA presumably would assume responsibility for even those specialized purchasing programs.
The Consolidation EO defines “common goods and services” subject to consolidation as the following procurement categories[1], the first six of which already are within GSA’s purview:
- Facilities & Construction
- Professional Services
- Information Technology
- Industrial Products & Services
- Travel
- Office Management
- Medical (VA & DOD)
- Transportation & Logistics (DOD)
- Human Capital (OPM)
- Security & Protection (DHS)
GSA has 90 days to deliver a plan for this consolidation with input from affected agencies. The Trump Administration has targeted GSA for major funding cuts, so it is unclear how a reduced GSA workforce will manage the significant additional responsibility implicated by the Consolidation EO. It also remains to be seen how the government will handle existing contracts in this consolidation process, and how GSA will manage the additional workload. Perhaps the contracting shops within agencies like the VA will migrate to GSA, or perhaps the Trump Administration believes that the existing GSA manpower will be sufficient once the government terminates the contracts and leases it deems unnecessary or wasteful. We will provide updates as the consolidation takes shape.
[1] You can read more about these procurement categories, which were created by the Category Management Leadership Council (CMLC), a group of representatives from DOD, Department of Energy, Health & Human Services, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, GSA, the National Aeronautics & Space Administration, and the Small Business Administration: https://www.acquisition.gov/content/category-management.
[View source.]
