President Donald Trump is ordering Federal agencies to undertake a sweeping review aimed at cutting or modifying some existing contracts, and to build new technology into their systems to record all agency payments under certain contracts, display written justifications for payments, and give agency officials ways to actively monitor payment flows.
The White House executive order – entitled “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Cost Efficiency Initiative” – marks the administration’s first order since Jan. 20 that is specific to making significant additions to agency tech system functionality.
The order is squarely aimed at mostly Federal civilian agencies, as it exempts many law enforcement, military, and immigration personnel. The order also lists “classified information or classified information systems” under its general exclusions list.
“This order commences a transformation in Federal spending on contracts, grants, and loans to ensure Government spending is transparent and Government employees are accountable to the American public,” the order says.
The order says agency heads “shall with assistance as requested from the agency’s DOGE Team Lead, build a centralized technological system within the agency to seamlessly record every payment issued by the agency pursuant to each of the agency’s covered contracts and grants, along with a brief, written justification for each payment submitted by the agency employee who approved the payment.”
“This system shall include a mechanism for the Agency Head to pause and rapidly review any payment for which the approving employee has not submitted a brief, written justification within the technological system,” the order says.
The order also includes instructions to agencies to build tech systems that “centrally records approval for federally funded travel for conferences and other non-essential purposes,” along with functionality to submit written justification for those categories of travel.
On the contract front, the Feb. 26 order tells agency heads to work with DOGE to review “all covered contracts and grants” and to terminate, modify or renegotiate them “where appropriate” in order “to reduce overall Federal spending or reallocate spending to promote efficiency and advance the policies of my Administration.”
The contract review will begin immediately and will “prioritize the review of funds disbursed under covered contracts and grants to educational institutions and foreign entities for waste, fraud, and abuse,” the White House said. It gave agencies 30 days to complete the reviews.
Also due in 30 days is a review of agency contracting policies, procedures, and personnel. The order says agencies “shall not issue or approve new contracting officer warrants” during the review period.
Covered contracts and grants are defined in the order as “discretionary spending through Federal contracts, grants, loans, and related instruments, but excludes direct assistance to individuals; expenditures related to immigration enforcement, law enforcement, the military, public safety, and the intelligence community; and other critical, acute, or emergency spending, as determined by the relevant” Federal agency heads.
Following the 30-day review, agencies need to issue new guidance on signing new contracts or modifying existing ones “to promote Government efficiency and the policies of my Administration,” the order says. Agency heads can approve new contracts before the guidance is issued.
The order also puts a 30-day freeze on agency employee credit cards, except for employees engaged in disaster relief. It also gives the General Services Administration 60 days to come up with a plan to sell government-owned property deemed no longer needed by agencies.
