10 Trends in Government Contracting: Analyzing the Parties, the Issues and the Shutdown

The changing power in the U.S. House alters the way Washington will work — and how procurement professionals will approach contracting with the government, Public Spend Forum says, offering 10 trends in government contracting (govcon) that should be on procurement’s radar.

The public sector media website also takes a look at each party’s positions and the effects of the shutdown, which is over but could return Feb. 15. To recap the situation: Republicans hold the presidency and the U.S. Senate, and the Democrats were elected to a majority in the House last fall.

The article evaluates possible outcomes in a novel way —  by focusing on what’s been done, not what’s been said. It uses the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) passed by Republicans last year to give “us a clue as to how this next budget will shake out, but with a newly Democratic House — things are primed to change.”

GOP in Budgeting

On the Republican side, the focus is on military spending and slashing regulations. PSF gives some insight into President Donald Trump’s call that for every new regulation to pass, two old ones have to be cut.

“Obviously, not part of the budget talks taking place on the Hill, the president’s proclivity toward regulation cuts is still an important trend for contractors and how they do business,” PSF reports. “The 1:2 ratio looks to be more of a 1:4. … Democratic influence on the budget this year, this trend shows no sign of stopping under our current administration.”

Democrats in Budgeting

On the Democratic side, the focus is on immigration reform, climate change and anti-poverty issues.

Shutdown Trends

Three of the 10 trends are grouped under the heading about the shutdown. The issues are the border wall with Mexico, school safety and healthcare.

Agreement?

And when PSF examines the trends where Democrats and Republicans may agree, they come up with two: infrastructure and IT modernization.

Click here to read the full analysis of the 10 trends that procurement pros should know — and you’ll also find a link to GovShop, a way to connect with suppliers for the public sector market.

Public Spend Forum (PSF) is a public sector procurement global community and market intelligence platform dedicated to improving public procurement and the public sector market. It tackles universal public procurement issues and produces podcasts, articles, opinion pieces, community notices as well as news stories, and it holds regular events. To check out what it’s been up to, follow the link above or follow @PSpendForum on Twitter.