DoD reviewing ‘non-essential’ consultancy contracts for termination
The memo mandates an assessment of "the essentiality of contracts ... for the purpose of terminating or descoping contracts for activities that are not essential for the Department to fulfill its statutory purposes."
By Theresa Hitchens
on February 20, 2025 at 6:31 PM
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has ordered all acquisition shops to review consulting service contracts to determine whether they are essential to Trump administration priorities, and terminate those deemed not to fit that bill.
“To ensure we are accountable for every dollar we spend and that we are aligned with the President of the United States’ America First priorities and Secretary of Defense [Pete] Hegseth’s direction, Component heads will conduct a comprehensive review and validation of existing contracts for consulting services,” states the Feb. 18 memo [PDF] memo signed by Steven Morani, who is performing the duties of DoD’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.
The memo mandates an assessment of “the essentiality of contracts … for the purpose of terminating or descoping contracts for activities that are not essential for the Department to fulfill its statutory purposes.”
Components are organizations within the Pentagon that have acquisition authority. Morani’s memo, first reported by DefenseScoop, is addressed to “senior Pentagon leadership, defense agencies and DoD field activities directors.”
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/02/dod-reviewing-non-essential-consultancy-contracts-for-termination/
