Executive Order Centralizes IT Procurement Under GSA
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order to centralize the procurement of common goods and services, notably information technology, under the General Services Administration (GSA). Effective within 30 days, the GSA will assume the role of executive agent for all governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) related to IT, as designated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The executive order states that consolidating federal procurement within the GSA—the agency specifically designed for this purpose—will eliminate waste and duplication, allowing agencies to focus more effectively on their core missions.
In its new capacity, the GSA administrator is authorized to “defer or decline” acting as the executive agent for IT GWACs when necessary to ensure service continuity or as deemed appropriate.
This move raises questions about the future of existing non-GSA IT contracts, such as those managed by the National Institutes of Health’s Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (e.g., CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP4) and NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) contracts. The order does not specify the fate of these contracts or the personnel supporting them.
Furthermore, the GSA administrator is tasked with rationalizing government-wide indefinite delivery contract vehicles for information technology, aiming to identify and eliminate contract duplication, redundancy, and other inefficiencies.
This directive follows a recent GSA memo instructing federal agencies to explore ways to terminate contracts with the top 10 highest-paid consulting firms, which are projected to earn $65 billion in fees in 2025 and beyond.
OMB is expected to issue guidance within the next two weeks on implementing the consolidation of IT contracting. Additionally, agency leaders are required to collaborate with contracting officers over the next 60 days to propose transferring domestic procurement of common goods and services to the GSA, where legally permissible. Thirty days thereafter, the GSA head must submit a plan to OMB detailing how the agency will lead these procurement efforts government-wide.
This executive order aligns with the administration’s broader initiatives to streamline government operations and reduce costs. Earlier on the same day, President Trump issued another order aimed at dismantling the Department of Education.
In anticipation of this order, GSA’s acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian hinted at the forthcoming changes during a recent all-hands meeting, where agency leadership also demonstrated a new generative AI tool designed to enhance operational efficiency.
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