DOGE Data Calls
DOGE doesn’t ask for summaries or broad totals. It wants specifics: prime-only contracts, filtered by vehicle, grouped by award type, and sorted by end date. All of it needs to be accurate, and all of it needs to arrive fast.
These requests are arriving more often. And they’re making clear that many GovCon contracts shops aren’t ready to respond when it counts.
One major defensive contractor received a DOGE request with just five days to respond. Nearly 1000 contracts needed review, and only a small subset matched the task.
When the Software Can’t Keep Up
the contractor was aware that their financial system couldn’t provide mission partner or command data, which was critical to DOGE’s request. Lacking the right tools, the team faced a manual review of hundreds of irrelevant records.
Most contract lifecycle management (CLM) software wasn’t built to answer intricate questions like this. They track documents. They store PDFs. But they rarely organize contract data in a way that supports fast, defensible reporting.
So, when a DOGE request shows up, teams scramble. They dig through spreadsheets. They revisit old emails. They rely on team recollection and improvised workarounds. A single data call can pull in contract admins, compliance teams, and PMs, wasting time and leaving teams feeling uncertain about the data.
A Better Way to Answer
Unlike many GovCons, this team was prepared for the request from DOGE. With a CLM designed for GovCon in place, they were able to find the answers that were needed.
They built a report using specific fields: contract type, customer classification, federal vehicle, prime status, and end date. Within the hour, they narrowed the list to just over 100 contracts. They cross-checked it with FPDS, completed the required template, and submitted everything on time.
Because their data was structured and maintained, the team delivered the report within hours without mobilizing all 50 staff members.
Building Trust in the System
Some still hesitate to rely on systems for answers. That skepticism isn’t without cause as many tools fall short. But when data is properly captured, structured, and maintained, the system becomes faster, cleaner, and more reliable than any manual workaround.
There’s still a place for human review. But there’s also a point where trusting the technology saves time and reduces strain. Knowing when to rely on each is what readiness is all about.
Turning Compliance into Opportunity
After submitting the report, the team used the experience to reinforce and improve their entire approach.
They introduced new data fields to track mission partners and task leads. They further aligned contract and finance systems. They started reviewing data quality regularly, not just in response to requests.
What started as a rush to comply became a reason to improve how work gets done.
The Scramble Isn’t Inevitable
Oversight requests will keep coming. They’ll evolve, expand, and tighten depending on the agency and the moment.
Contracting teams don’t need more people to solve the problem. They need better systems. Tools that support structured intake, make data accessible, and allow teams to report with confidence the moment the request comes in.
DOGE might set the deadline. But what happens next is up to you.
