Following the February 26 executive order (EO) “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Cost Efficiency Initiative,” Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Richard Arnholt was quoted in a Law360 article exploring the potential outcome of the order.
The order requires that each federal agency builds a “centralized technological system” to record payments made under all “covered” contracts, grants and loans, with some exclusions, but agencies often lack the in-house expertise to build those systems. Even though the EO suggests available assistance from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), many agencies will most likely have to turn to outside contractors, which could take years and millions of dollars to implement.
“That’s the irony here, isn’t it?” said Richard. “In order to achieve these centralized technological systems, agencies are likely going to need to engage very expensive consultants to tell them how to do it, and then they’re going to need to [award] very expensive IT contracts in order to actually perform it.”
The full article, “Strict Mandates In Contracting Order May Undercut Efficiency,” was published by Law360 on February 28 and is available online (subscription required).