I recently authored an article for Federal News Network offering insight on adjustments made by the Trump administration related to small business federal contracting goals moving forward.

In January, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced updates to these goals for 2025. This initiative significantly decreased the goals for small, disadvantaged businesses and standardized targets across federal agencies for all categories except overall prime and subcontract small business goals.

The Trump administration has altered small business subcontracting goals to better align with its policy objectives. These revisions seek to shift away from affirmative action and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and issue fewer awards to 8(a) small businesses.

Outside of the small, disadvantaged socioeconomic business category, small businesses could see a larger percentage of contract spending. Many agency-specific small business goals have increased under the new administration.

These revisions could also impact large businesses who have subcontracts with small businesses. Most federal contracts awarded to large businesses require a small business subcontracting plan to be submitted for review.

“While the new goals will likely result in fewer contracts being awarded to 8(a) small businesses, outside the small, disadvantaged small business socioeconomic category, the sky is not falling,” I explained in the article. “While the world is not ending, small businesses should be prepared to adapt as the procurement landscape shifts.”

The full article, “New SBA goals: Down But Not Out,” was published by Federal News Network on June 16 and is available online.