GAO: Fiscal 2020 Federal Contract Obligations Hit $665B

Federal civilian and defense agencies collectively increased annual contract spending by $70 billion to $665 billion during fiscal year 2020, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

GAO found that agencies spent $35 billion to buy medical supplies and pharmaceutical products in FY 2020 as part of COVID-19 response efforts.

The Department of Defense accounted for the largest share of governmentwide contracting dollars for the period, obligating $218.1 billion on product acquisitions and another $203.6 billion on service procurements.

Meanwhile, civilian agencies spent $188.2 billion to obtain services, such as research and development operations support, and roughly $55.1 billion to purchase various products like biologics and software platforms.

Agencies obligated $144.2 billion in FY 2020 federal contract funds to the small business community, GAO noted.

The office also found that the amount of other transaction agreements rose from $1.7 billion in FY 2016 to $16.5 billion last fiscal year.

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