Defense Cyber Programs With Proposed Cuts to Advisory and Assistance Services in FY 2026

In February, President Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 14222 “Implementing the President's Department of Government Efficiency Cost Efficiency Initiative.” As part of the overall initiative, the Department of Defense/War (DOD/W) set out to identify types of contracted Advisory and Assistance (AA) services that could be cut in the FY 2026 budget request.

Details began to emerge with the release of the FY 2026 Budget Blueprint in May, the release of a more detailed Budget Appendix in June, and subsequent releases of greater detail from DOD/W and the Military Departments (MILDEPS) into July and August, culminating with the release of the FY 2026 DOD IT and Cyberspace Activities Budget in September.

In a series of posts, one of my colleagues has looked at the identifiable FY 2026 planned budget reductions in AA services in Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) programs at the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Space Force, as well as in the Defense Procurement budget and the Defense Operations and Maintenance (O&M) budget.

This post will focus on Defense cybersecurity and cyber-operations programs to see which programs are impacted by DOD/W efforts to reduce spending on contracted AA services.

Proposed Advisory and Assistance Service Reductions to Defense Cyber Programs

Reviewing the FY 2026 Defense-wide and MILDEP Procurement, O&M and RDT&E budget documents for planned reductions in Advisory and Assistance services within clearly identifiable cyber programs show that these proposed reductions touch multiple programs occur across the entire DOD/W enterprise.

More than $115M in reductions are planned across a dozen-and-a-half cyber programs department-wide. These programs span from traditional information assurance and information security programs to cyberspace operations and advanced capability development programs.

Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of programs that have any distinguishable level of cyber-related activity that may also have planned AA services spending reductions. Time constraints prevent a detailed review of every program in the dozens of available budget documents. The programs listed here are the most obvious.

Closing Thoughts

While $115M in reductions is a small amount compared to what DOD/W spends on cyber, it does demonstrate that the Pentagon is increasingly scrutinizing its budget to identify savings that may be shifted to other priorities, specifically warfighting readiness. This trend is underscored by the department’s growing efforts to transform the Defense acquisition landscape, supporting systems and processes.

It is also worth noting that these budget reductions are part of the DOD/W’s budget proposals for FY 2026 and Congress has the final say in what happens with these budgets. Congressional appropriators may approve or adjust these budgets throughout the appropriations process. Further, as Congress passes one or more Continuing Resolutions (CRs) that sustain funding at FY 2025 levels, or the levels instituted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the reductions proposed in the FY 2026 budget will be delayed until Congress enacts them in a full Defense appropriation.

Contractors that provide AA services within cyber programs and others may already be aware of these planned reductions and are awaiting their disposition as the budget appropriations process plays out. However, companies that provide similar types of services should also monitor this cost-cutting trend across the defense environment.