Trump signs an executive order consolidating federal IT contracting under GSA; A new generative AI tool for GSA's workforce

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to consolidate the contracting of common goods and services, including information technology, under the General Services Administration. Within 30 days of the order’s issuance, GSA will take over as the executive agent of all governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) for IT, as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. “Consolidating domestic Federal procurement in the General Services Administration — the agency designed to conduct procurement — will eliminate waste and duplication, while enabling agencies to focus on their core mission of delivering the best possible services for the American people,” the order says. As part of GSA’s new role, the administrator will be able to “defer or decline” being the executive agent of IT governmentwide contracts “when necessary to ensure continuity of service or as otherwise appropriate.” Other major GWACs for technology across the federal government include the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center’s vehicles like its CIO-SP3 and embattled CIO-SP4, as well as NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) contracts. The General Services Administration on Thursday revealed a new generative AI tool designed to boost efficiency and help automate repetitive tasks. The platform, now available to GSA staff, comes amid anxiety that the Department of Government Efficiency might use artificial intelligence to surveil or replace federal workers, who are being laid off in large swaths across the government. The GSA chatbot can access a series of large language models, including technology from Anthropic and Meta. The system resembles other AI chatbots, and it’s designed to respond to user prompts and help staff with basic tasks, like writing. Earlier this month, Wired first reported that the DOGE had deployed a chatbot called GSAi for 1,500 workers. According to Wired, the tool had been in development for several months, but DOGE accelerated the rollout of the platform and eventually wants to use it for data analysis of contracts and procurements. GSA said in a Thursday statement it is encouraging all of its staff to test the tool.