DHS obligated $30.5 billion in FY2026 through April 9. In the same window a year earlier, it was $9.0 billion.
That is the biggest swing among the top ten agencies. It's also a reminder that the agency you wrote off in your pipeline review may not be the agency that's spending.
Here's what the data says as of July 8, 2026, and what I'd do about it.
💡 From the GovIntel desk this week
- $30.5 billion in DHS obligations, FY2026 through Apr 9, versus $9.0 billion a year earlier. Award data lags about 90 days.
- 166 small business set-aside solicitations and presolicitations posted this week, up from 162 the week before. It was the largest set-aside category in both weeks.
- 2,967 new solicitations from Defense this week, 1,655 with a set-aside. VA was next at 260, so start your search with DoD postings.
- 1 GAO protest decision in the past 30 days was sustained, even in part; 24 were denied outright.
- 24 protest grounds challenged technical evaluations in the 90 days to July 8, the most common; only 2 were sustained.
- 9.2% 12-month rise in aircraft-manufacturing total benefit costs, Q02 2026 (BLS ECI). One industry only; check your own rates.
Data as of July 8, 2026, from IPS GovIntel: federal awards, opportunities, protests, rules and budgets, updated daily.
Where the money moved
These figures come from GovIntel contract actions, October 1, 2025 through April 9, 2026, against October 1, 2024 through April 9, 2025. Award data lags about 90 days, so nothing after early April shows up yet.
Defense is still the whole ballgame by size: $236.3 billion obligated, up from $209.3 billion. But the bigger moves were elsewhere:
- Energy: $32.5 billion, up from $22.9 billion.
- Homeland Security: $30.5 billion, up from $9.0 billion.
- Transportation: $5.9 billion, up from $3.5 billion.
- Veterans Affairs: $35.0 billion, up from $32.5 billion.
Not everyone grew. NASA came in at $8.2 billion against $8.8 billion, and Agriculture was roughly flat at $3.4 billion.
What this data can't show is why. Obligations include everything from one big action to thousands of small ones, and I can't tell you from this cut how much of DHS's jump is recurring work versus a few large awards. Treat it as a reason to look, not a conclusion.
What's being posted this week
The week of July 2 to July 8 was heavy on Defense. DoD posted 2,967 new solicitations, 1,655 of them with a set-aside. VA was next at 260, then Interior at 219 and Agriculture at 152. DHS posted 116.
On set-asides, solicitations and presolicitations marked Small Business Set-Aside (Total) came to 166 this week, against 162 the week before. That was the largest category both weeks, ahead of "None" at 143. SDVOSB set-asides rose from 8 to 13, and WOSB program set-asides from 1 to 4. 8(a) set-asides slipped from 12 to 8.
One week is one week. Don't build a strategy on a seven-day swing of five notices. But the size of the Defense number tells you where your search filters should start.
How protests are landing
If you're thinking about a protest, or worried about one, the recent record is sobering for protesters.
In the 30 days to July 8, GAO's outcomes broke down like this: 24 denied, 7 dismissed, 3 denied in part and dismissed in part, and 1 sustained in part. That's the only decision in the window with any sustain at all.
Over the 90 days to July 8, technical evaluation was the most common ground, at 24 grounds. Only 2 of them were sustained. Solicitation terms and trade-off analysis each drew 15 grounds, with zero and one sustained. Discussions drew 12 grounds, and 2 were sustained.
Read that carefully. The most-raised ground rarely wins, and the grounds that did win a little more often (discussions) are ones where the agency's record is the story. A protest is a bet on the record, not on your opinion of your own proposal.
A caveat: these are decided cases only. This data doesn't count protests withdrawn or resolved by corrective action before GAO ruled, and I'm not drawing conclusions about those.
Rules and costs
In the 60 days to July 8, GovIntel logged 8 proposed rules in the Federal Register, 4 DPCAP policy memos and 2 OMB memos. One OMB memo, M-26-14, covers agency logging and network visibility for cyber defense. The FAR Council also issued guidance to implement EO 14402, and GSA issued procedures on project labor agreements. Read each against your contracts. I'm flagging them, not summarizing them.
On labor cost, the BLS Employment Cost Index for aircraft manufacturing shows total benefits up 9.2% over 12 months in Q02 2026. Total compensation for the same industry is up 5.5%, and manufacturing wages and salaries are up 4.4%. The query returned several overlapping aircraft-manufacturing series, so don't treat any one line as a universal escalator. It is one industry, not your labor categories. But if you're pricing out-years with a flat 2% to 3%, compare it against your own actual cost growth.
What to do with this
- Add DHS and Energy to your agency review. Their spending moved the most. Check whether your past performance fits what they're buying.
- Start your solicitation search with Defense filters. The volume is there, and so is the set-aside share. Tighten by NAICS before you read a single notice.
- Re-check your escalation assumptions. Compare your last 12 months of actual cost growth, especially benefits, to what's in your current pricing.
- Read the evaluation record before deciding on a protest. Technical evaluation grounds are common and rarely sustained. Know what you'd have to show.
- Log the new rules and memos against your contracts. Assign someone to read M-26-14 and the EO 14402 guidance this month.
The money moved. Check whether your pipeline did.
Want this kind of read on your own pipeline or market? Get in touch.
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Josh Parker
Founder of Indy-Pendent Solutions and flowState Software. Former Air Force combat rescue pilot, defense program manager, and capture strategist with 20+ years in defense acquisition.
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