GSA Leadership Shifts: MAS Overhaul for Small Businesses

GSA's Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program is undergoing its most significant transformation in years, signaling a new era for government contractors. With President Trump’s nomination of Edward “Ed” Forst as the next GSA Administrator, expect a clear pivot towards an efficiency-driven procurement agenda, emphasizing centralized buying, leaner staffing, and the elimination of perceived inefficiencies. Acting Administrator Michael Rigas has already begun aligning the agency with these goals, overseeing reassignments and focusing on "rightsizing" the GSA portfolio.

This episode delves into the major shifts impacting small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) currently on or eyeing the GSA Schedule:

• Sweeping MAS Consolidation: The GSA continues efforts to merge legacy schedules and combine multiple contracts held by the same vendor into one. This includes retiring low-demand or duplicative Special Item Numbers (SINs), with 32 retired in April 2025 and 10 more planned.
• Mandatory Transactional Data Reporting (TDR): By September 30, 2025, TDR becomes mandatory for all MAS contracts with eligible SINs. This requires monthly reporting of line-item price data in a GSA portal, replacing traditional pricing disclosures and the old Price Reduction Clause.
• Aggressive Contract "Rightsizing": A major initiative announced in March 2025 directs the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) to let MAS contracts expire if they fail to meet minimum sales thresholds, such as $25,000 per year. This policy puts thousands of contracts at risk, with data showing that over 13,000 contracts have never met this threshold, and 91% of those are held by small businesses.
• Rollback of Biden-era Mandates: MAS refreshes, like #28, explicitly remove language tied to previous executive orders on sustainability, environmental justice, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Certain products and services, such as DEI consulting, are now deemed "out of scope".
• New Leadership, Stricter Pricing: Trade groups warn that GSA's complex new pricing policies and automated tools, which often implicitly block requested price increases, are "driving small business contractors away from GSA".

While GSA maintains its commitment to small business goals and an "A+" SBA scorecard, industry analysts and advocacy groups express concerns that these aggressive changes could "squeeze small firms’ MAS participation". This episode will provide actionable advice for SMBs, including how to audit existing contracts, prepare for TDR, review SIN eligibility, and adjust pricing strategies to navigate this evolving landscape.

As GSA centralizes federal buying under its "One GSA" initiative, potentially absorbing procurement duties from agencies like SBA, HUD, and Education, the MAS program will remain a cornerstone for federal buying, but its shape will be "different, and potentially more demanding, than in years past". Tune in to understand how to stay nimble, informed, and competitive in this new era of government contracting.