Figures released by the Federal Procurement Data System show that the Defense Department‘s overall spending dropped 8 percent last fiscal year to $284.9 billion, Federal Times reported Thursday.Andy Medici writes a Federal Times analysis of FPDS data found that although many non-defense government agencies increased their spending on contracts during fiscal 2014, overall federal contracting dropped by $17 billion over the previous year.
NASA and the Social Security Administration as well as the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs bucked the downward spending trend, according to Federal Times.
The publication reports Dan Gordon, associate dean for government procurement law at George Washington University, attributed the decline in defense spending levels to sequestration-related budget cuts and the drawdown of U.S. forces in the Middle East during 2014.
Rob Burton, a Venable government contracts attorney, and Michael O’Hanlon, a Brookings Institution senior fellow, told the publication they believe DoD spending could increase if the department gets funding boost from Congress.
Medici writes that DoD cut its spending on contracts with 10 major contractors by 12 percent in 2014 and spent less on aircraft manufacturing and engineering services last year than it did in fiscal 2013.
