Recent figures have estimated that the federal government’s spending on contracts was down 11 percent last year, however for some agencies spending is increasing.

A number of factors contributed to the decrease: the sequester, budget cuts, and the draw down in Iraq and Afghanistan. With spending down at the Defense Department by 15% and the U.S. Agency for International Development showing a decline of 17%, 10 other major agencies — just over half of the 19 agencies analyzed — similarly reported a downward trend compared to fiscal 2012.  However seven other agencies reported spending increases with the Treasury Department and Department of Education showing the most improvement:

1) Homeland Security (2.1 percent increase over fiscal 2012)

2) Health and Human Services (4.6 percent increase)

3) Veterans Affairs (5.3 percent increase)

4) Justice (7 percent increase)

5) Housing and Urban Development (9.5 percent increase)

6) Treasury (16.4 percent increase)

7) Education (27 percent increase) 

by Simon Brody
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014