Commonsense executive order on federal tech could save billions

With the stroke of a pen, the White House set in motion something simple and smart. Thanks to a new executive order that finally enforces the bipartisan Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994, President Trump told the federal government to stop building overpriced, outdated software from scratch and to start buying the same cutting-edge tools American businesses already use.

Here, the president is taking steps to streamline federal contracts by mandating the use of commercial solutions wherever possible. It’s a move that’s long overdue and could save taxpayers billions.

For decades, federal agencies have been quietly writing their own software or hiring government contractors to do it. Instead of relying on commercial technology options, the government has spent countless hours and millions of dollars building bespoke technology tools that are almost always less efficient, more expensive, and quickly obsolete. The results are high costs, poor results, and frustration among federal employees and the general public alike.

Meanwhile, the private sector continues to deliver reliable, secure, and more up-to-date technologies that both federal workers and the American people need.

According to a recent internal memo on federal software procurement, the government often lags 10 years behind commercial technology. That’s not just a tech issue; it’s a security and efficiency crisis. Commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) is routinely updated with the latest security patches, performance upgrades, and innovations. Government-built software is already outdated by the time it launches, and it costs a fortune to maintain.

Worse still, some government programs actively compete with private-sector offerings, meaning taxpayers are effectively subsidizing the development of worse government-created options that simultaneously crowd out commercial options. This isn’t just inefficient; it’s fundamentally at odds with the government’s role. As the recent executive order points out, the federal government should not be in the software business. Instead, it should be a smart customer that buys the best tools available and focuses its limited resources on serving the American people.

The order initiates strong and commonsense measures aimed at real reform. Under this EO, federal agencies must review current contracts, justify any use of non-commercial solutions, and report back on their compliance. It’s a strong accountability measure that prompts the government to think carefully about enterprise-wide use of technology and the most appropriate and cost-efficient options to serve the public.

The order also has the benefit of sidestepping ideological debates in favor of common sense. It forces officials to abandon efforts to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, and replicate existing software options, when they are already safer, faster, and continuously improving in the private sector.

Modernizing government starts with smarter buying. This executive order is a critical step toward a leaner, more agile federal enterprise that delivers better services at a lower cost. That’s something every taxpayer should support.

Jessica Salmoiraghi is the senior director of IT modernization and procurement at the Business Software Alliance.