Get Ready for a Massive Government Spending Spree
Government agencies started FY18 under a continuing resolution so they had legal and practical reasons to be careful with spending. The Congress passed the Omibus spending bill that pump a lot of extra money into the system. Unfortunately the way Congress does budgets, an agency loses money in the next fiscal year if it doesn't spend the money it is given for the current fiscal year. It results in massive waste of tax dollars.
A government spending spree of potentially historic proportions will play out over the final seven weeks of fiscal 2018, as federal agencies look to spend $140 billion more than they thought they’d get before Congress passed and President Trump signed the omnibus spending bill.
Without a budget agreement in place, agencies spent cautiously through the first two quarters of fiscal 2018 before the omnibus—signed six months late in March—obligated an additional $80 billion for defense and $63 billion for civilian agencies.
Federal agencies, now flush with cash, must obligate that money before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 or lose it to the Treasury Department. Analysts believe the federal market will see a monumental effort among procurement officials to spend as much on contracts as possible.
“If agencies are going to spend the extra money in fiscal 2018, it’s going to have to be at a much higher percentage in the fourth quarter than it has been historically,” David Berteau, president of the Professional Services Council, told Nextgov.