GAO’s 2025 Category Management Update: Why Federal Contractors Should Pay Attention
The Government Accountability Office’s September 2025 snapshot, “Government Contracting: Leveraging Federal Buying Power Can Save Billions” (GAO-25-108638), distills a decade of category management into a clear message: the federal market is consolidating around government-wide strategies, data discipline, and accountability—and contractors that adapt will find durable opportunity. GAO recounts that since 2014 the Office of Management and Budget, working with the General Services Administration, organized more than half of federal contract dollars into ten common spending categories and built preferred government-wide vehicles to standardize demand and pricing. OMB reports $111 billion in cumulative savings, and a 2025 executive order followed by July 2025 guidance now pushes agencies to centralize more buying through GSA, where—tellingly—less than 20 percent of “common” spend currently flows. For industry, that policy arc points toward fewer, larger, and more data-visible contracting pathways that reward readiness on GSA-managed and other “best-in-class” vehicles, disciplined pricing, and strong performance analytics.
GAO’s significance for contractors lies in three interlocking levers it highlights. First is accountability. Earlier GAO work found agencies underused preferred contracts and were not held to concrete outcomes. In response, OMB instituted goals for category-managed spend, use of preferred vehicles, savings, and small-business utilization—and agencies are now expected to publish plans and report against them. Contractors should anticipate more explicit migration targets in solicitations and evaluation narratives (e.g., justifying why a requirement should remain local rather than move to a government-wide vehicle), more scrutiny of comparative price and performance across vendors on the same vehicle, and clearer small-business balancing rules. Those shifts tend to favor firms already positioned on the relevant GSA schedules or GWACs and primes that can document repeatable savings, utilization, and socio-economic outcomes.
Second is data. GAO repeatedly found that limited price and contract data impeded savings and duplication reduction. OMB’s current push to improve access to centralized data means contracting officers will have sharper tools to benchmark rates, options, and lead times across vendors and vehicles. For industry, that elevates the value of price rationales, cost-to-serve analytics, and digital catalogs aligned to standardized line-item structures. It also puts pressure on undifferentiated offerings: price outliers and inconsistent discounting will be easier to detect, defend, or reject.
Third is requirements discipline. GAO shows how defining standard configurations can unlock scale—its earlier case study found roughly 80 percent of computer buys could be met with five configurations, enabling consolidation and better pricing. OMB has since amended guidance and training to emphasize earlier engagement with requirement owners. Contractors that arrive with pre-vetted, standards-based solutions, clear technical trade-offs, and transition plans will be better positioned when agencies channel demand into fewer, centrally managed catalogs.
Importantly, GAO’s snapshot acknowledges both opportunity and risk. Centralizing procurement capacity at GSA requires careful service-level agreements, risk management, and performance monitoring so missions are met while savings and cycle-time goals materialize. For contractors, that translates into a more predictable route-to-market once on-ramps are secured—but also heightened competition inside multi-award environments, thinner margins where price transparency intensifies, and a premium on compliance with small-business goals at the contract and task-order level. Small-business participation has remained around 30 percent within category management, even as the number of small vendors has trended downward; that underscores the importance of teaming, mentor-protégé joint ventures, and targeted on-ramps to sustain diversity of supply.
This snapshot, authored by GAO with contributions from Mona Sehgal (contact), Angie Nichols-Friedman, Heather B. Miller, Lori Fields, and Laura Greifner, matters because it signals where policy, oversight, and dollars are headed: toward scaled vehicles, measurable savings, and rigorous data use. Contractors that invest now—securing positions on the right government-wide contracts, strengthening price intelligence, aligning offers to standardized requirements, and documenting mission outcomes—will be best placed to compete as federal buying behaves more like a single enterprise.
Disclaimer: This summary is for general information only and reflects the source as of publication. It is not legal, financial, or procurement advice. Always consult primary documents and qualified counsel for specific decisions.