The Justice Department will shrink its number of service contracts as it cuts all spending in fiscal year 2013, according to a private industry analyst.
Ray Bjorklund, vice president and chief knowledge officer at Deltek, told Federal Outlook conference Tuesday that DOJ’s budget request includes significant cuts to the agency’s administrative and management support procurement activity.
The budget for routine management and administrative support contracts is $2.03 billion less than the agency’s 2012 request of $7 billion, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Bjorklund said the $4.97 billion request for service contracts is one of the sharper cuts in the budget with a 31 percent decline for appropriations in this area.
Bjorklund said almost every account is going down in funding or remaining flat, which the Business Journal reports may lessen the amount of purchases the agency makes for services typically considered lucrative.
The department will also see cuts in its contracted management of forfeited assets from those convicted of federal crimes.
Deltek analysts said this is among the most significant areas seeing less funding as well, decreasing from $3.44 billion to $1.2 billion.
The department will also reduce spending for professional services to $890 million, a $4.1 million drop from fiscal year 2012, according to the Business Journal.
The department will see a 1 percent increase for operation and maintenance of equipment, infrastructure and facilities, totaling $310 million.
The department will receive $410 million for telecommunications services, according to the Business Journal.
Bjorklund also spoke about the Defense Department’s contracting needs at the conference, suggesting the Pentagon needs support for Afghanistan’s security forces and new information-based warfighting technologies.
