Josh Gruenbaum knows how to capture the GovCon world’s attention. The new Federal Acquisition Service commissioner and 2025 Wash100 Award winner has been making big headlines with splashy acquisition reform developments since he took the position in January.
Gruenbaum is shaking up the federal acquisition process with big, bold initiatives like demanding plain-language explanations of contracts and applying a Department of Government Efficiency-inspired cost-cutting approach to awards. Gruenbaum is reshaping how the federal government buys and is striking a chord across the GovCon sector.
Here’s a roundup of what Gruenbaum has been up to lately.
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Gruenbaum Makes Consulting Firms Defend Contracts
Leaders from the largest consulting firms in the U.S. in March met with government officials, including Gruenbaum, to fight for their programs. This was ahead of a deadline for federal agencies to justify consulting contracts, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of the details:
- The General Services Administration had asked acquisition officials to list and justify contracts from 10 companies
- The meetings were part of a Trump administration effort to reduce federal spending
- The consulting firms were asked to “defend the spend,” or suggest which of their programs were mission critical and which ones could be eliminated
“We welcome [the private sector] working with us to decrease our excessive government spending while continuing to provide the essential services the government needs,” Gruenbaum was reported as saying.
Gruenbaum Looks Into SpaceX Contracts
Gruenbaum was back in the news in late July when he reportedly asked DOD to compile a spreadsheet with its SpaceX contracts and other transaction agreements to share with the White House, the Wall Street Journal said.
Gruenbaum reportedly made similar requests about SpaceX contracts to NASA and about six other federal agencies.
- Instead of terminating the SpaceX contracts after pouring over the spreadsheet, the White House, DOD and federal agency officials came to the conclusion that most of the contracts were vital to DOD and NASA missions
- These spreadsheets, called “scorecards,” had the value of SpaceX awards and whether a competitor could do the same missions more effectively
- Trying to find methods to reduce its dependence on SpaceX, the Trump administration saw how much federal agencies rely on the company’s technology as there are few alternatives for many launches and low earth orbit satellite services
SpaceX in 2025 has earned more government awards and continues working on significant missions following a falling out between Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
GSA Expands Efforts to Reshape Federal Consulting Contracts
GSA in May sent a request for data, analysis and savings options from another group of firms, including Iron Bow, Peraton, and ManTech International Corp., according to Federal News Network. Gruenbaum reportedly asked for detailed input on spending separated by agency, project and service category as well as pricing of services.
GSA, again, wanted to use this information to create scorecards to compare against GSA’s review as well as against those provided by other companies. GSA, again, wanted responses in plain language.
This second round of letters is a continuation of the Trump administration’s effort to slash contract spending and change consulting awards to focus more on outcomes rather than “butts-in-seats.” U.S. Army CIO Leonel Garciga said as much at the 2025 Army Summit in June.
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