Pentagon’s Pivot to Nontraditional Contractors

The Trump administration has taken numerous steps to reform how the Department of Defense (DOD) buys services and equipment.  The latest effort was signaled in DOD Secretary Pete Hegseth’s November 7, 2025, speech in which he announced a slew of reforms designed to increase speed and competition in contracting.

The new acquisition policy will look first to existing private sector products, giving priority to firms with little or no history working for the military.  According to Secretary Hegseth, “We will prioritize the purchase of industry driven solutions – commercial solutions first – that meet our needs faster, even if that means bids do not meet every requirement.  It means that we will be open to buying the 85 percent solution and iterate together over time to achieve the 100 percent solution.”

By increasing competition, the DOD hopes to break the domination of the industry by a limited number of prime contractors, which have thrived in an environment “defined by limited competition, vendor lock, cost-plus contracts, stressed budgets and frustrating protests.”

These reforms were included in a November 18, 2025, Citizens Against Government Waste report, which argued that the DOD must rapidly expedite its procurement process, make better use of existing private sector technologies, and implement new contracting terms to extract more value from defense acquisition efforts.  By speeding up the process and making use of proven technology, the DOD can make progress on fixing its woeful purchasing record.