Reopening After the Shutdown: How Contractors Can Seize the New Era of Federal Acquisition

November 12, 2025

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As the federal government prepares to reopen after its longest shutdown in history, both agencies and contractors face a landscape that looks very different from the one they left behind. Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness David Berteau explains why the next few months will test the resilience, adaptability, and creativity of the contracting community — and how it can use this moment to move forward smarter.

Berteau says the first reality contractors must face is that the restart won’t happen overnight. “For every day the government was closed, it could take three to five days to get back to where you would have been,” he notes. That means delays in reopening offices, reissuing credentials, and restarting stalled solicitations are all but guaranteed. Contractors shouldn’t expect to be at the top of mind for agency staff walking back into their offices. In many cases, those officials will still be dealing with expired PIV cards, unprocessed deliverables, and rebalanced budgets before they can focus on contract work.

At the same time, Berteau points to a meaningful shift in how government views its industry partners. For decades, the standard model has been government setting requirements and contractors responding. But he says that’s changing: “Maybe companies — whether they’re traditional contractors or innovative outsiders — have an idea of how we can do work better, and we ought to listen to them.” This growing openness could signal a more collaborative era of acquisition, one where government and industry design solutions together rather than apart.

The recent overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) may accelerate that shift. Berteau notes that while the rewritten parts still need to be integrated, the changes reflect new thinking about how the government buys. He highlights greater flexibility in guidance documents, a new dynamic in small business participation, and an evolving balance between regulation and innovation. However, he cautions that the transition won’t be smooth. Companies must be ready to help contracting officers understand what can and cannot be done under the revised rules.

Berteau also raises concern about the long-term health of the industrial base. Financial markets have always viewed government invoices as reliable — “as good as cash,” he says. But payment delays during shutdowns and terminations have weakened that trust. If that perception continues to erode, it could have serious implications for how private capital supports federal work.

Despite the challenges, Berteau sees opportunity. He urges companies to use this moment to refocus on results, not just processes. “If missing the input doesn’t change the output, you have to rethink what results you’re really trying to achieve,” he tells Rose. For both government and industry, the reopening is a chance to modernize how work gets done — faster, smarter, and with a renewed focus on delivering value to the nation.