{"id":641,"date":"2025-03-14T21:24:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T21:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/03\/14\/trump-and-doge-create-anxiety-but-opportunity-for-federal-contractors-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2025-03-14T21:24:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T21:24:13","slug":"trump-and-doge-create-anxiety-but-opportunity-for-federal-contractors-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/03\/14\/trump-and-doge-create-anxiety-but-opportunity-for-federal-contractors-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump and DOGE Create Anxiety but Opportunity for Federal Contractors &#8211; The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"site-content\">\n<article id=\"story\">\n<div id=\"top-wrapper\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/#after-top\">SKIP ADVERTISEMENT<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p>You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<header>\n<p><h2 id=\"link-34ba867b\" data-testid=\"headline\">Federal Budget Ax Threatens Contractors, but Could Also Be an Opportunity<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"article-summary\">By cutting federal employees, the Trump administration may increase its reliance on firms that take in billions through government contracts.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div data-testid=\"imageContainer-children-Image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"President Trump sits at a desk in the Oval Office as Elon Musk stands to his side, his arms crossed, and Mr. Musk\u2019s young son stands in front of him. \" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/13\/multimedia\/13biz-consulting-kpzl\/13biz-consulting-kpzl-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&#038;auto=webp&#038;disable=upscale\"   decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"><\/picture><\/div><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-ImageCaption\"><span>The share prices of publicly traded contractors fell in the months after the election as it became clear that President Trump and Elon Musk would rein in federal agencies.<\/span><span><span>Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Eric Lee\/The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2025-03-14T16:46:32-04:00\"><span>March 14, 2025<\/span><span>Updated <span>4:46 p.m. ET<\/span><\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<section name=\"articleBody\">\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<p>A contracting firm called Leidos took in more than $16 billion in revenue last year, most of it through contracts with federal agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>So when the Trump administration\u2019s budget cutters took aim at the V.A. last month, it seemed like bad news not just for the department\u2019s employees but also for Leidos and dozens of other private-sector firms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo more paying consultants to do things like make Power Point slides and write meeting minutes!\u201d the department\u2019s secretary, Doug Collins, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecVetAffairs\/status\/1894426832641913204\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">wrote on X<\/a>. Overall, the department indicated that it was canceling more than 850 contracts worth nearly $2 billion.<\/p>\n<p>But shortly after Mr. Collins\u2019s announcement, the outlook for some of the V.A.\u2019s contractors seemed to brighten. The department <a href=\"https:\/\/federalnewsnetwork.com\/veterans-affairs\/2025\/02\/va-pauses-billions-in-cuts-lauded-by-musk-as-lawmakers-and-veterans-decry-loss-of-critical-care\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">put the cancellations<\/a> on pause, saying it needed to review the contracts to avoid \u201celiminating any benefits or services\u201d to veterans or V.A. beneficiaries. It later <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-to-terminate-585-non-mission-critical-or-duplicative-contracts\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">narrowed the list<\/a> of canceled contracts by a few hundred.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<p>And experts on government contracting said cuts to the agency, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/veterans-affairs-cuts-trump.html\" title>announced last week<\/a> that it was seeking to trim 80,000 of its roughly 480,000 employees, could even lead to increased spending on federal contracts.<\/p>\n<p>These experts noted that cutting employees without reining in a government function \u2014 like providing health care and benefits to veterans, work in which Leidos plays a key role \u2014 typically means the job will fall more heavily on contractors.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<hr>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&#038;client_id=vi&#038;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F14%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Ftrump-doge-federal-contractors.html&#038;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&#038;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F14%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Ftrump-doge-federal-contractors.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\">\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p>Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&#038;client_id=vi&#038;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F14%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Ftrump-doge-federal-contractors.html&#038;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&#038;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F14%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Ftrump-doge-federal-contractors.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div id=\"bottom-wrapper\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/#after-bottom\">SKIP ADVERTISEMENT<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Federal Budget Ax Threatens Contractors, but Could Also Be an Opportunity By cutting federal employees, the Trump administration may increase its reliance on firms that take in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}