The General Services Administration’s technology procurement effort may experience a slowdown due to the government shutdown, restricting how much agencies may benefit from access to the discounted services.
Contracts included in GSA’s OneGov procurement strategy –– which include landmark deals with major tech companies like OpenAI, xAI and Meta –– are not voided by the shutdown. The implementation of the services at customer agencies, however, may suffer delays.
“[Multiple Award Schedule] contracts, including those made as part of the OneGov initiative, will be fully available to all agencies,” a GSA spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW. The spokesperson clarified that all new government contracts are subject to federal funding, and the shutdown means less time for interested agencies to take advantage of discounted software products through the OneGov agreements.
A GSA source familiar with the OneGov initiative said that, while current contracts are not voided by the shutdown, agencies interested in incorporating these solutions into their workflows may experience hurdles in accessing select technological products.
The lapse in appropriations is not expected to impact the availability of the advanced technologies included in the OneGov agreements or the broader GSA contracting landscape, the source added. The failure to approve the next fiscal year’s appropriations, however, could halt agency adoption of new technologies due to a lack of funding for procurement or staff furloughs.
Many companies making OneGov agreements with GSA set time-limited discounts for agencies wishing to access their products. Oracle’s offer of a 75% discount on its data management systems and elimination of egress fees for cloud data transfers, for example, are available until Nov. 30. Adobe and Salesforce’s discount agreements with OneGov will also end on Nov. 30, while other OneGov contracts — like those between Microsoft and xAI — last until 2027 and 2026, respectively.
Microsoft declined to comment when asked whether the shutdown would delay the services under its OneGov agreement, while OpenAI said its services will continue uninterrupted. Nextgov/FCW has also reached out to Salesforce, Adobe and Oracle to inquire as to whether their services under the OneGov agreement would be impacted.
Some OneGov agreements, like the one with Meta for its Llama AI, enabled GSA to verify that the technology met federal requirements, but the offering itself is an open-source tool.
Potential hiccups in the tech modernization process that the Trump administration has prioritized come as the government shutdown brings more uncertainty to the federal workforce. The White House confirmed that more mass layoffs will likely ensue due to the shutdown.
