Federal Contract Spending Jumps 40% in FY26 Q2
Summary
Governmentwide federal contract obligations hit $212.2 billion across roughly 1.45 million contract actions in FY2026 Q2 (Jan-Mar 2026) -- up 40% from $151.7B the prior quarter and up 39% from $153.2B a year earlier. Six agencies account for 91% of it, and Defense alone for 62%.
The figures come from USAspending.gov, the Treasury system of record for federal awards, filtered to the four contract action types. A jump this size in a single quarter is unusual outside the September fiscal year-end rush -- and this one landed in the winter quarter that is normally among the year's quietest for new obligations.
The money is concentrated. Just six departments account for 91% of the quarter's total, and the Department of Defense alone obligated $131.1 billion -- 62 cents of every contracting dollar. After Defense, the drop is steep: Homeland Security ($19.6B), Energy ($18.1B), Veterans Affairs ($12.7B), the General Services Administration ($6.5B), and Health and Human Services ($4.3B).
View data as table
| Defense | 131.1 | 62% of the $212.2B total |
|---|---|---|
| Homeland Security | 19.6 | |
| Energy | 18.1 | |
| Veterans Affairs | 12.7 | |
| General Services Admin. | 6.5 | |
| Health & Human Services | 4.3 |
Against the trailing quarters the spike is plain: contract obligations sat near $153B a year earlier and $152B the prior quarter before rising to $212B. Everything below the top six -- , Transportation, Justice, Agriculture and the rest of government combined -- adds up to about $19.9B, roughly the size of Homeland Security's line by itself.
View data as table
| FY25 Q2 | 153.2 | a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| FY26 Q1 | 151.7 | prior quarter |
| FY26 Q2 | 212.3 | Jan-Mar 2026 |
- Governmentwide contract obligations reached $212.2B in FY2026 Q2 (Jan-Mar 2026) across about 1.45 million actions -- up 40% quarter-over-quarter and 39% year-over-year.
- Six agencies hold 91% of the quarter's contract money ($192.3B combined); the Department of Defense alone accounts for 62% ($131.1B).
- The remaining ~$19.9B is split across every other federal agency combined -- about the size of Homeland Security's single-agency total.
- USAspending figures for a closed quarter can still edge up as agencies certify late actions, but the FY2026 Q2 window is past its normal 90-day reporting lag; the numbers here are recomputable from the API queries in the sources.
Obligations cover contract award types A/B/C/D ( calls, purchase orders, delivery orders, and definitive contracts) by action date, summed at the transaction level. The "1.45 million contract actions" figure is USAspending's count of distinct contract awards with recorded activity in the window (spending_level=awards), not a dollar figure. Every figure is recomputable from the exact USAspending API queries recorded in the sources; each query fixes spending_level explicitly because the endpoint defaults shifted during the pull. This is a held draft prepared for editor review.
Sources(3) ▾
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service (USAspending.gov), USAspending.gov Award Search API — Spending Over Time (contract obligations, by fiscal quarter) (2026-08-14) — Governmentwide federal contract obligations grouped by fiscal quarter. Recomputable POST query (issuer-hosted API): {"group":"quarter","spending_level":"transactions","filters":{"award_type_codes":["A","B","C","D"],"time_period":[{"start_date":"2024-10-01","end_date":"2026-08-14"}]}}. spending_level MUST be set to "transactions" to sum obligation amounts by action date; the endpoint's default spending_level changed to subawards during the pull window and returns a tiny partial total if it is omitted. Award type codes A/B/C/D are the four contract action types ( call, purchase order, delivery order, definitive contract). Establishes the FY2026 Q2 total of $212,247,105,012.44, the FY2026 Q1 total of $151,681,840,079.52, and the FY2025 Q2 total of $153,194,709,524.75 -- each independently equal to the sum of all agencies in the awarding_agency breakdown for the same window. A live POST-only API; a static GET/Wayback capture is not meaningful, so the exact request body is recorded here for reproduction. api.usaspending.gov
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service (USAspending.gov), USAspending.gov Award Search API — Spending by Awarding Agency (contract obligations, FY2026 Q2) (2026-08-14) — Contract obligations for the FY2026 Q2 window broken out by awarding agency. Recomputable POST query: {"category":"awarding_agency","spending_level":"transactions","filters":{"award_type_codes":["A","B","C","D"],"time_period":[{"start_date":"2026-01-01","end_date":"2026-03-31","date_type":"action_date"}]},"limit":10}. Establishes the six leading agencies: DoD $131,090,397,759.96; $19,600,997,538.37; $18,072,934,800.42; $12,736,868,315.85; $6,506,379,327.85; $4,313,371,017.04. Summing all 65 agencies returned at limit 100 equals $212,247,105,012.44, the governmentwide Q2 total. A live POST-only API; exact body recorded here for reproduction. api.usaspending.gov
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service (USAspending.gov), USAspending.gov Award Search API — Spending by Award Count (contract actions, FY2026 Q2) (2026-08-14) — Count of distinct federal contract awards with recorded activity in the FY2026 Q2 window. Recomputable POST query: {"spending_level":"awards","filters":{"award_type_codes":["A","B","C","D"],"time_period":[{"start_date":"2026-01-01","end_date":"2026-03-31","date_type":"action_date"}]}}. spending_level MUST be set to "awards" (the endpoint's default shifted to subawards during the pull window, returning a partial count if omitted). Returns results.contracts = 1,446,813. A live POST-only API; exact body recorded here for reproduction. api.usaspending.gov
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Federal agencies obligated $212.2 billion in contracts in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (January-March 2026) across roughly 1.45 million contract actions -- 40% more than the $151.7B obligated the quarter before, and 39% more than the same quarter a year earlier.