The Trump Administration on March 20, 2025, issued an executive order titled “Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement” (the EO), which will result in a major change in the landscape of federal procurement by making the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) primarily responsible for domestic federal procurement with respect to common goods and services. This EO builds on actions the Trump Administration has taken to date in overhauling the federal procurement system, which includes GSA coordinating “the termination or economization of over 6,000 contracts across the federal government” since Jan. 20, 2025. Overall, the EO represents a shift in the use of Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), with potential benefits and challenges. By making GSA responsible for managing the procurement of common goods and services, the federal government aims to optimize its spending and improve service delivery, though the transition will require careful management to address any arising issues and transition risks.
The GSA was established in 1949 through the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act to provide “an economical and efficient system” for the core procurement services for agencies. 40 U.S.C. 101. In this role, GSA has managed the Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) Program and developed other GWACs, such as the OASIS, Alliant, VETS and 8(a) STARS vehicles. Over the years, other agencies have stood up their own GWACs, such as such as NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) vehicle and the Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners (CIO-SP) vehicle administered by the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Assessment and Acquisition Center (NITAAC). Some of these non-GSA GWACs have eroded the dollars spent under GSA’s GWACs by providing procedures that agencies and contractors have found more flexible and easier to use.
This EO represents a major win for GSA, as NASA, NITAAC and other agencies that have established GWACs for common goods and services will presumably be directed to discontinue their vehicles.