Author Archive
Ross Wilkers
Senior Staff Reporter

Ross Wilkers covers the business of government contracting, companies and trends that shape the market. He joined WT in 2017 and works with Editor-in-Chief Nick Wakeman to host and produce our WT 360 podcast that features discussions with the market's leading executives and voices. Ross is a native of Northern Virginia and is an alumnus of George Mason University.
Defense
Pentagon to become rare earth mining company's largest stockholder
The Defense Department will buy a 15% stake in MP Materials and fund the construction of a magnet-making facility, all with an eye toward breaking the U.S.' reliance on China for rare earths.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
OPM schedules industry engagement event to talk HR modernization
The Office of Personnel Management, Office of Management and Budget, and General Services Administration are all involved in this discussion on how to get a new human resources system in place by the end of 2028.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
GSA adds third set of companies to consulting contract review
The General Services Administration is asking six “traditional strategy consulting firms” for much of the same information it has previously asked of other companies: a breakdown of their federal businesses and ideas for savings.
- By Ross Wilkers
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI awarded $200M DOD prototype contract
The Defense Department is eyeing administrative operations, health care and cyber as areas with potential use cases for the company's technology.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
The onus is on industry to explain commercial best practices
Assuming government leaders know what those practices are and how they work is not a good idea, according to the General Services Administration's chief acquisition officer.
- By Ross Wilkers
Modernization
Omni Federal awarded $427M background check IT modernization contract
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency sought a managed service provider amid ongoing efforts to enroll all federal employees in continuous vetting.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
GSA expands contract reviews to resellers
The General Services Administration is seeking price breakdowns and other information from 10 technology product suppliers as part of GSA's OneGov push to streamline procurement.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
Pentagon heightens scrutiny on IT, management consulting contracts
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's newest directive for the department zeroes in on providers of “system IT integration, implementation, or advisory services."
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
The acquisition rule (re)writers really want you to have your say
Industry will get visibility into and be able to weigh in on efforts by the GSA, Defense Department and NASA to reform the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
- By Ross Wilkers
Updated
People
Booz Allen plans 7% workforce cut
The civil business is where Booz Allen will focus most of these layoffs as part of broader “resetting and restructuring” of that business, the company's CEO and finance chief told investors.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
Adobe, GSA ink access and discount software pact
Agencies can now buy the company's document management software at a significantly lower price, which is similar to the General Services Administration's agreement with Google.
- By Ross Wilkers
Featured eBooks
Acquisition
Trump orders major changes to rules covering $1T in federal spending
The Tuesday mandate — which aims to streamline the way government buys goods and services — was accompanied by a second order requiring agencies to predominantly use commercial products, rather than custom-built.
- By Natalie Alms, Ross Wilkers and Jessie Bur
Breaking News
Acquisition
Trump administration asks agencies to cull consultants
A memo dated Wednesday asks agencies to review their contracts with 10 of the “highest paid” companies.
- By Natalie Alms, Ross Wilkers and Frank Konkel
People
OPM procurement processing fully halted following agency layoffs, internal email says
Sweeping terminations in OPM’s Office of Procurement Operations have fully halted agency contracting business and are likely to increase OPM’s operational risks, an internal email reads.
- By David DiMolfetta, Ross Wilkers and Eric Katz
Modernization
PSI wins $156M Veterans Affairs testing recompete
Planned Systems International conducts tests and manages projects related to the rollout of the new Oracle Cerner electronic health record.
- By Ross Wilkers
Policy
Where can GovCon find clarity in the Trump transition turbulence?
Contractors, their government customers, and pretty much everyone across the public sector ecosystem is trying their best. But here are some steps and action items that companies can follow.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
IBM wins $930M federal employee travel system contract
The General Services Administration expects 124 civilian agencies to transition to the new system by June 2027.
- By Ross Wilkers
Artificial Intelligence
DOD reveals first draft of $15B artificial intelligence contract
The Defense Department wants more companies in the fold for Advana, a multi-domain analytics and AI platform that DOD wants to further scale out.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
GSA further details its plan for Ascend cloud program
Software-as-a-service vendors and providers of cloud-related IT professional services are who the General Services Administration wants to hear from now.
- By Ross Wilkers
Acquisition
Army unveils draft for $10B software development competition
The Army has doubled the maximum number of awardees from its prior intent and shed some more light on how the downselect could work.
- By Ross Wilkers