How contractors can navigate the Trump era
March 9, 2025
GSA says it will republish a retracted list of potential federal buildings to sell
March 9, 2025
By Lisa Shea Mundt
Small businesses are suffering under contract cuts driven by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency, writes Lisa Shea Mundt of the Pulse of GovCon.
Open to work.
My LinkedIn feed feels like a modern version of Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Tell-Tale Heart – the open to work refrain in place of a heartbeat, representing an obsessive, unwavering descent into irrationality bordering on madness: “Louder it became, and louder… Louder, louder…”
Those of us who support the government can’t drown out the sound.
Another day, another colleague is sounding the alarm to their network searching for employment. Another beat, another devastating story of someone’s world collapsing. These are incredible government contracting employees – people I’ve admired and emulated in my own work – who have suddenly been cast aside by the institutions they’ve served.
As federal contractors, we live and operate in a distinct market filled with companies who fulfill missions for the multifarious agencies that comprise the United States federal government. We come from different backgrounds, provide varied capabilities and expertise, but the refrain over the last two months remains the same:
“…my company received so many T4Cs (terminations for convenience) that I was furloughed”
“…95% of our business is with USAID and nearly all of our contracts have stop work orders or terminations”
“Unfortunately, recent federal contract cuts have forced us to make difficult decisions, resulting in the furlough of a majority of our team”
“The administration has decided veterans, taxpayers, and hard-working civil servants should move forward without the expertise and dedication of my colleagues”
