The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is reviewing federal contracts provided for leading consulting firms, which have been tasked with submitting a scorecard explaining the services they’re providing to government agencies before the end of the month.
In a letter sent to the leaders of consulting firms that was reviewed by FOX Business, the Government Services Administration (GSA) explained that it believes it’s “important to undertake this review in partnership with industry,” and will use firms’ responses for comparison against the agency’s government-wide review.
GSA is structuring the review as a scorecard, asking consulting firms to identify waste and savings opportunities and noting, “Scorecards that do not identify waste and spending reductions will not be deemed credible and your firm will be seen as unaligned with the Administration’s cost cutting goals.”
Consulting firms are instructed to identify spending by agency, then identify related contracts and projects to “further break down spending by functional category in simple layman terms (i.e. a 15 year old should be able to understand what service you provide and why it is important – no consultative jargon or gobbledygook.”
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GSA is also asking consulting firms to “detail how pricing is structured for each contract, project or category, explain any pricing differences between agencies and how these pricing structures compare to market information in your possession.”
Firms are further instructed to “make recommendations of changes to pricing or pricing structures that would lead to savings for the U.S. taxpayer and provide a total identified cost takeout in your submission.”
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Consulting firms are required to submit their scorecard based on a template provided by GSA before a deadline of 5 p.m. ET on March 31.
Firms that provide consulting services to federal agencies have warned that efforts by the Trump administration to cut back on spending through the DOGE initiative and agencies like GSA have impacted their businesses.
“As you know, the new administration has a clear goal to run the federal government more efficiently,” Accenture CEO Julie Spellman Sweet said during a quarterly earnings call. “During this process, many new procurement actions have slowed, which is negatively impacting our sales and revenue.”
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an appearance last week on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that major consulting firms have a “chokehold” on government spending.
“One of the biggest surprises for me is just seeing how these entrenched interests just keep constricting themselves around the power, around the money, around the systems and nobody cares,” Bessent said.
“Many of the employees are fantastic. It’s this consultant group that has just – they’re like a boa constrictor, they’re like a python,” around federal spending programs, he added.
FOX Business’ Hillary Vaughn and Chase Williams contributed to this report.
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