What Contractors Can Glean from the Biden Administration’s First 100 Days

A new president’s first 100 days set the tone for their upcoming four years in office. Nominations for new agency leadership, executive actions, and legislative initiatives unveiled during this time reveal new administrative priorities and agendas.  

Deltek’s analysis of the administration’s Executive Orders (EO), Memoranda, legislation, policy directives and FY 2022 Budget Blueprint shows the following high priority areas:

• Economic Recovery
• COVID-19 Response
• Healthcare
• Defense and Homeland Security
• Immigration
• Criminal Justice
• Climate and Environment
• Government Operations
• Technology
• Equity and Civil Rights

President Biden issued a historic number of EOs in his first 100 days in office compared to previous administrations:

Many of the president’s EOs, memoranda and proclamations were geared toward addressing major U.S. crises, such as COVID-19.

Executive orders likely to have the most impact on contractors include:

• Executive Order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers
• Executive Order on Worker Organizing and Empowerment
• Executive Order to Raise the Minimum Wage to $15 for Federal Contractors

The Biden administration also released its FY 2022 budget outline on April 9, 2021. It provided a high-level view of agency discretionary budgets and top priorities.  Totaling $1.52 trillion, the budget excluded emergency funding, disaster relief and other non-base discretionary funding, which represent an additional $24 billion.  The budget proposal shows an 8.4% increase over FY 2021 enacted levels, with generous increases across the majority of agencies. Defense agencies total $715 billion, a +1.6% increase.  In addition, Civilian agencies total $808 billion, a 15.7% increase. High priority areas such as health, R&D and the environment drive increases in proposed civilian agency budgets. Agencies showing the most significant proposed percentage increases include Education, Commerce, HHS, EPA and NSF.

Themes and priorities stemming from the FY 2022 President’s Budget Blueprint include:

To date the only legislation signed into law, developed by the Biden administration, is the American Rescue Plan. The $1.9 trillion package provides economic relief through direct payments, additional unemployment insurance benefits, and rental assistance. The legislation also includes funding for pandemic response, community support and government information technology.

Because agency leadership is just beginning to take shape and immerse themselves into federal operations, new agency priorities and initiatives are in their infancy.  Deltek expects to learn more about detailed agency priorities and initiatives when the full FY 2022 President’s Budget Request is released.

Executive actions to date indicate the administration’s appreciation and desire to use data and technology to inform decision-making. Combined with funding provided by the American Rescue Plan, federal agencies have new resources for modernizing legacy systems, and investing in IT infrastructure and emerging technology.  

Federal contractors should watch for contract implications resulting from executive orders related to supply chain, buy American provisions, federal contractor minimum wage, carbon footprint, and cybersecurity. Additionally, contractors should look to existing contract vehicles for opportunities funded by the American Rescue Plan, including Best-in-Class contracts that allow agencies to procure quickly.

To learn more about contractor implications from the new administration’s first 100 days in office, see Deltek’s Biden Administration: First 100 Days report.