These are chaotic times for the federal market; the good, bad, and the ugly of a change in administration amidst an economic crisis. Fortunately most of the developments in the market are good.

The Good: Agencies Swimming in Money
The stimulus package produced a mother lode of funds for federal agencies and states. These funds have to be spent quickly and the amount of new federal contracting funded by stimulus dollars may exceed $50 billion. The new administration would prefer to hire more federal employees but that will take too long- stimulus related contracting has already begun.

The Potentially Bad: Overhaul of Federal Contracting
The new administration is focusing on an overhaul of federal contracting including more contract oversight, more competitive procedures, elimination (or reduction) in sole source contracts, and increased focus on value and contract performance. How could anyone be against these basic fundamentals of public contracting? The industry will improve as a result of the new focus.

The Ugly: Let's Cut Down on Contracting and Find the Bad Apples and Punish Them
The new administration wants to cut back on federal contracting and we may see some selected cuts appear in the press. But the cuts will be contracts that are visible and already tagged as wasteful or fraudulent. Federal contracting is integral to federal agency operations and contracting is going play a major role in the stimulus effort. In the cases of waste and abuse, the industry will be better off when these contractors go elsewhere.