The US federal government closed at 12:01 am Oct. 1 amid a bitter partisan fight over funding. Three-quarters of a million employees have been furloughed and others are working without pay indefinitely, reports The Washington Post. Among departments with known furlough numbers are Education, which has furloughed 87% of its employees; Commerce 81%; Labor 76%; State 62%; Agriculture 49%; and Defense (only civilians) 45%. The Trump administration has told officials to prepare for mass layoffs while the shutdown lasts.
Trump Enters His 3rd Funding Lapse
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This is the third time President Donald Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, reports Military.com. In addition to some of the roughly 750,000 furloughed federal workers who could be fired, some entire offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad.”
Several government oversight websites went down — and with them, access to watchdog reports and required hotline and whistleblower links — as of Wednesday morning as the White House Office of Management and Budget has moved to withhold funds from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, reports NextGov/FCW. “Due to a lack of apportionment of funds, this website is currently unavailable,” the CIGIE website states. So do Office of Inspector General websites for the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Justice, Interior, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the OIG website for the Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Office of Personnel Management. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s website is also down.
DoD issued shutdown contingency guidance that outlines six priorities and contracting plans. “Activities that are determined not to be excepted, and which cannot be performed by utilizing military personnel in place of furloughed civilian personnel, will be suspended when appropriated funds are no longer available,” the document said. The secretary of defense “may, at any time, determine that additional activities shall be treated as excepted,” reports Breaking Defense.
Stars and Stripes reports that the document lists the Pentagon’s priority missions as securing the US-Mexico border as well as Middle East operations and Golden Dome missile defense programs. The priorities outline what military work will take precedence in a shutdown.
Because the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency performs national security work, 35% of its 2,540 employees will continue to report to work during the shutdown without pay, reports Cybersecurity Dive. They will likely be expected to monitor government networks for intrusions and help other agencies respond to attacks.
Military Times reports the government shutdown, will not affect veterans’ health care, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The trade group representing GovCon companies encouraged members to talk with financial institutions about items like cash flow and lines of credit, reports Washington Technology. Stephanie Kostro, president of the Professional Services Council, said members were briefed last month to advise companies to “make sure that you have sufficient cash to continue to pay your employees and to run your business.” This will be the fifth full shutdown since 1995. A 35-day partial shutdown happened in December 2018 and January 2019. A government contractors to-do lists can be found in a Washington Technology article from last week.
A collection of small defense technology firms and entrepreneurs urged lawmakers to avert the shutdown, explaining a government closure would hurt the defense industrial base, startup firms, and especially small vendors with smaller profit margins and smaller contracts than bigger firms, reports Defense News. After the 2013 shutdown, the letter to lawmakers, OMB, and Budget Director Russ Vought, said, small businesses’ government contracts fell by about one-third and spending dropped about 40% during tje 2013 shutdown.
The Pentagon on Monday awarded Lockheed Martin a $12.5 billion contract for nearly 300 of the newest F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the Navy, reports Defense News. The contract modification confirms purchase of 148 F-35s from the 18th lot and supports the production and delivery of another 148 fighters in lot 19. The award builds on another lot 18 and 19 contract announcement from December 2024 worth $11.8 billion, bringing the total to about $24.3 billion.
An elusive vessel, described as a special operations mothership, has reappeared and is currently deployed to the Caribbean, Task & Purpose reports. The US has historically used commercial ships like the MV Ocean Trader as part of special operations missions, although military officials have not said what the ship’s Caribbean mission is. TMZ has photos from the 2015 conversion of the ship which hasn’t been seen since, until now.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has played a leading role in directing US strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug boats, reports The Guardian, at times superseded the role of Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser. The strikes were necessary, according to the administration because interdiction did not work, and have been orchestrated through the homeland security council, which is led by Miller.
The crew of US Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL 757) offloaded approximately 21,126 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated value of more than $156.4 million, last week in San Diego, reports Seapower Magazine. The offload resulted from four separate interdictions during August and September of suspected drug-smuggling vessels in international waters off the coasts of Mexico, Central America, and South America.
NavSec John Phelan is consolidating planning authorities for the service’s future fleet, budget development, and international affairs into a new secretariat-level position known as the chief of naval policy, a senior, civilian position, reports Breaking Defense. A number of existing offices and roles will be “integrated” into the new office, which reports to Phelan. In addition, certain State Department advisers for the chief of naval operations and the Marine Corps commandant will be eliminated.
The Pentagon has stepped back from the policy that requires all troops to get the flu shot every year by introducing exemptions for reservists and proclaiming that the shot is only necessary in some circumstances for all service members, reports Military.com.
WarSec Pete Hegseth slammed “fat generals” and diversity initiatives he said had led to decades of decay in the military and told a rare gathering of commanders on Tuesday they should resign if they don’t support his agenda, reports Reuters. He said all fitness tests would be set to male benchmarks only and emphasized the importance of grooming standards. “It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”
Instructions to use AI to “expedite” investigations into workplace discrimination and sexual harassment in the military are included in a series of memos released Tuesday after Hegseth’s address, reports Task & Purpose. Another memo reforms the Inspector General system which provides oversight outside of troops’ chain of command and handles investigations into policy violations, mismanagement, improper behavior, and misconduct.
The Army has already rolled out details of its policy allowing soldiers under investigation for misconduct to be promoted, receive awards, and move to a new assignments, rather than see their careers frozen in place, reports Task & Purpose.
Air and Space Magazine has the full transcript and video of the Secretary of War’s Tuesday address here.
Trump told the gathering of military leaders they should use American cities as “training grounds” to fight against what he called a “war from within.” Defense News reports, “We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard, but military,” Trump said and suggested the leaders in attendance could be tasked with assisting federal law enforcement interventions against an “invasion from within” Democratic-led cities, such as Chicago and New York City.
Hegseth has ordered 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, OR, for a period of 60 days, which the state is challenging in court, reports Military Times. Oregon’s suit accuses the administration of exceeding its executive powers and basing its actions on a “wildly hyperbolic pretext.”
As Memphis, TN, and Portland, OR, brace for a federal law enforcement surge, armed and masked Border Patrol agents were making arrests near famous downtown Chicago landmarks over the weekend, reports AP News. Illinois leaders warned Monday of a National Guard deployment. Meanwhile, Louisiana’s governor asked for a National Guard deployment to New Orleans and other cities.
In a major shift from the past few years, the Army, Navy, and Air Force announced they had met their recruiting goals this summer, months ahead of schedule. And now the Marines say they have met their recruitment goals as well, reports Military.com. AP News says boot camp programs, started years ago, offering remedial academic or physical training and also cash bonuses drive the Army and Navy improvements. The Marines do not offer cash bonuses. According to GEN Eric Smith speaking at a conference in 2023, “Your bonus is you get to call yourself a Marine.”
The dismissal of two dozen FEMA employees is suspected to be linked to a “widespread cybersecurity incident” at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which allowed hackers to make off with employee data from both the disaster management office and US Customs and Border Protection, reports Nextgov/FCW. The initial compromise began June 22, and data was taken from services in Region 6 which serves Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, as well as nearly 70 tribal nations.
Hegseth said 20 soldiers will keep their Medals of Honor received in 1890 during the Battle of Wounded Knee, which later became known as a massacre of Native Americans. A review requested by Congress in 2022 and implemented in 2024 by then-DefSec Lloyd Austin, concluded the soldiers should keep their medals, Hegseth said in a video posted on X, reports Stars and Stripes.
The Trump administration began, on Tuesday, auctioning off coal leases on federal lands in Alabama, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. The auctions are a key test of mining industry interest in efforts to revive a sector in decline reports Reuters. In addition to opening the 13.1 million acres of public land to coal mining, the Trump administration announced $625 million for coal-fired power plants, reports The Guardian. The efforts at reviving the flagging coal sector involve initiatives out of Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump’s H-1B visa crackdown is expected to hasten US firms’ shift of critical work to India, according to economists and industry insiders, reports Reuters. India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, is home to 1,700 global capability centers — more than half the global tally — now a hub of high-value innovation in areas from design of luxury car dashboards to drug discovery.
New Jersey’s heated governor’s race was thrown into chaos last week after the National Archives admitted to releasing Democrat Mikie Sherrill’s military files with personal information to an ally of her Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli, reports Military.com. Sherrill said she was not allowed to walk in her graduation from the US Naval Academy 30 years ago because she did not turn in classmates during a cheating scandal.
The European Union has jump-started the development of a so-called “drone wall” to protect European skies against incursions by unmanned aerial vehicles from Russia, alongside a broader set of measures designed to protect the eastern flank of the continent, reports Defense News.
Range Construction LLC,* Washington, D.C. (W9126G-25-D-0007); Potawatomi Defense Operations,* Milwaukee, Wisconsin (W9126G-25-D-0008); and Feathered Friends of America JV LLC,* Pitkin, Louisiana (W9126G-25-D-0009), will compete for each order of the $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for horizontal construction projects at Fort Polk, Louisiana, including parking lots, roads, taxiways, playgrounds, culverts, and drainage. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 28, 2032. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity.
McKenzie Construction and Site Development LLC,* Washington, DC, was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for design-build construction services to remove and replace the existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system with a new geothermal heat pump system at the historic Hacienda building at Fort Hunter Liggett. The amount of this action is $8,702,780 with a total cumulative face value of $9,562,904. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Jolon, California, with an estimated completion date of June 29, 2027. Fiscal 2025 civil construction funds in the amount of $8,702,780 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento, California, is the contracting activity (W91238-25-C-A018).
Mistral Inc,* Bethesda, Maryland, was awarded a $982,000,000 hybrid cost-no-fee and firm-fixed-price contract to provide Lethal Unmanned Systems. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 29, 2030. This contract was awarded on a sole source basis under Federal Acquisition Regulations 6.302-7 Public Interest. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-25-D-A009).
Cottrell Contracting Corp.,* Chesapeake, Virginia, was awarded an $11,778,000 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging of Rollinson and Silver Lake Harbor, North Carolina, with a total cumulative face value of $12,583,000. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Hatteras, and Ocracoke, North Carolina, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2026. Fiscal 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 civil operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $11,778,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, North Carolina, is the contracting activity (W912PM-25-C-A013).
Accenture Federal Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract to modernize the Defense Commissary Agency Enterprise Business Solutions platform. The amount of this action is $99,752,352. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 26, 2025. Fiscal 2025 Defense Working Capital Fund funds in the amount of $7,290,690 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W58P05-25-C-0007). (Awarded Sept. 27, 2025)
Quadrant Construction,* Jacksonville, North Carolina (N4008525D2991); Blue Rock Structures,* Pollocksville, North Carolina (N4008525D2992); Bristol General Contractors,* Anchorage, Alaska (N4008525D2993); Joyce and Associates Construction,* Newport, North Carolina (N4008525D2994); Military and Federal Construction,* Jacksonville, North Carolina (N4008525D2995); P&S Construction,* Tampa, Florida (N4008525D2996); and Syncon LLC,* Chesapeake, Virginia (N4008525D2997), are awarded a $495,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contract for new construction, demolition, repair, alteration, and renovation of buildings, systems and infrastructure. Work will be performed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, and is expected to be completed no later than September 2030. Additional work may be required in other areas within the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Mid-Atlantic area of responsibility. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance, (Navy) (OM,N) funds in the amount of $5,000 will be obligated to satisfy minimum contract guarantees. Funds in the amount of $35,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded with OM,N and military construction funds. Contract awardees may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the contract. This contract was competitively procured via the www.SAM.gov website with twenty-nine proposals received. The Naval Facilities Systems Engineering Systems Command, Mid Atlantic Core, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Sodexo Management Inc., North Bethesda, Maryland, is awarded a $155,078,833 firm-fixed-price modification to exercise Option Year Seven under a previously awarded contract (M95494-18-C-0016) for the management and operation of west coast mess halls in support of the Marine Corps Regional Garrison Food Services Program. Work will be performed in Camp Pendleton, California; San Diego, California; Twentynine Palms, California; Miramar, California; Yuma, Arizona; and Bridgeport, California, with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2026. Fiscal 2026 military personnel (Marine Corps) funding will be obligated to the contract and will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Marine Corps Installations Command, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Sodexo Management Inc., North Bethesda, Maryland, is awarded a $144,832,998.42 firm-fixed-price modification to exercise Option Year Seven under a previously awarded contract (M95494-18-C-0018) for the management and operation of east coast mess halls in support of the Marine Corps Regional Garrison Food Services Program. Work will be performed Washington, DC; Indian Head, Maryland; Quantico, Virginia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Cherry Point, North Carolina; Bogue, North Carolina; New River, North Carolina; Beaufort, South Carolina; and Parris Island, South Carolina, with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2026. Fiscal 2026 military personnel (Marine Corps) funding will be obligated to the contract and will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Marine Corps Installations Command, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $137,245,941 modification (P00058) to a previously awarded fixed-price incentive (firm-target), firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N0001920C0009). This modification adds scope to provide diminishing manufacturing sources and engineering change proposals implementation and integration in support of updating configurations for F-35 production aircraft Lot 17 for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, F-35 Cooperative Program Partners, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire (32%); Fort Worth, Texas (31%); Palm Bay, Florida (19%); San Diego, California (10%); El Segundo, California (3%); Linthicum Heights, Maryland (2%); Hoogerheide, Netherlands (1%); Wallingford, Connecticut (1%); and Greensborough, Australia (1%) and is expected to be completed in July 2026. Fiscal 2023 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount $52,616,180; fiscal 2023 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $37,923,763; FMS customer funds in the amount of $25,543,206; and cooperative program partner funds in the amount of $21,162,792, will be obligated at the time of award, $90,539,943 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
HawkEye 360 Inc., Herndon, Virginia, is awarded a $98,869,611 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for access to commercial satellite data and maritime analytics. Work will be performed in Herndon, Virgina (90%), and additional locations nationally and internationally. Work is expected to be completed in September 2030. Funds will be obligated as task orders are issued. Funding will be made available at the delivery order level as contracting actions occur. This contract was awarded as a sole-source acquisition pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 3204(a) (1). Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-25-D-0065)
.Chickasaw Defense Group LLC,* Norman, Oklahoma, is awarded a $43,497,606 firm-fixed-price contract for the repair, renovation, and process equipment installation at an industrial building to support the munitions mission. This contract includes two options that will be exercised at time of award, resulting in a cumulative total of $43,497,606 for this contract. Work will be performed in Indian Head, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by November 2027. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $43,497,606 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulations 6.302-5(b)(4). The Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, Indian Head, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0017425C0009).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $12,529,999,033 modification (P00015) to a fixed-price incentive (firm-target), firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N0001923C0003). This modification provides for the definitization of 148 Lot 18 aircraft, and adds scope for the production and delivery of 148 lot 19 aircraft, to include 40 F-35A aircraft for the Air Force, 12 F-35B and eight F-35C aircraft for the Marine Corps, nine F-35C aircraft for the Navy, 13 F-35A and two F-35B aircraft for F-35 cooperative program partners, and 52 F-35A and 12 F-35-B aircraft for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (57%); El Segundo, California (14%); Warton, United Kingdom (9%); Cameri, Italy (4%); Orlando, Florida (4%); Nashua, New Hampshire (3%); Baltimore, Maryland (3%); San Diego, California (2%); Nagoya, Japan (2%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (2%), and is expected to be completed in August 2028. Fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $3,110,913,188; fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,670,915,923; fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $13,574,693; fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,646,802; fiscal 2023 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $28,876; FMS customer funds in the amount of $5,407,510,876; and cooperative program partner funds in the amount of $1,314,408,676, will be obligated at the time of award, $28,876 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract action was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
The Entwistle Co. LLC,* Hudson, Massachusetts, is being awarded $10,881,480 for a firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of wire coils as spare parts for post-launch remote operation of torpedoes. The one-year contract for 1,329 units contains a one-year option provision for the delivery of an additional 1,470 units at a value of $12,365,434 that if exercised will bring the total value of the contract to $23,246,914. Work will be performed in Hudson, Massachusetts (89%); and Danville, Virginia (11%). Work under the base contract is expected to be completed by December 2029 and if the one-year option for additional units is exercised the work on those will be completed by July 2035. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Turkey (7%); Canada (5%); Taiwan (4%); Netherlands (3%); and Brazil (2%). Fiscal 2025 weapon procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,596,369 (79%); and FMS funds in the amount of $2,285,111 (21%), will be obligated at the time of award and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This requirement was solicited as a full and open competition with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00104-25-C-K044).
Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum of $510,000,000 firm-fixed-price call order for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force Chief Information Officer. This contract provides ServiceNow products and services for the Department of the Air Force. Work will be performed in Washington, DC, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 24, 2028. This contract is the result of a brand name acquisition using the mandatory source. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $37,199,878 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force District of Washington, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA7014-25-F-0296). (Awarded Sept 25, 2025)
General Atomics Integrated Intelligence Inc., Charlottesville, Virgina, was awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling of $29,448,000 for the Archer program. This contract provides logistics support, maintenance and repairs on various configurations, technologies, and manufacturers of the Atmospheric Early Warning System. Work will be performed in northwestern region of the U.S. is expected to be complete Sept. 29, 2030. This contract is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,991,318 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. (FA8217-25-D-B009)
TeamGov, Inc., Hyattsville, Maryland, was awarded a $25,695,824 firm-fixed-price contract for providing custodial services at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia. This contract provides custodial services, in accordance with the performance work statement and Air Force Common Output Level Standards. Work will be performed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, and Fort Eustis, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2030. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition where two offers were received. Fiscal 2026 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,204,865 will be obligated at time of contract award. The contracting activity is the 633rd Contracting Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Hampton, Virginia. (FA4800-26-F-0001).
CORRECTION: The contract announced on Sept. 25, 2025, for Pryze App Inc.,** Gainesville, Virginia (SP4701-25-C-0098) for $7,913,722 was announced with an incorrect award date of Sept. 23, 2025. The correct award date is Sept. 26, 2025. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
