The U.S. federal government agreed to spend $262 billion with its top 100 contractors in 2016.

A billion here, a billion there — pretty soon you’re talking about real money, right?  So changes in how the government allocates funds can have a significant impact on supplier companies.

Consider President Trump’s proposed defense budget. For the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, it would provide $574 billion to the Pentagon (not including an additional $65 billion for overseas contingency operations). That’s a 10 percent increase from the last full-year budget, and some of that could flow to defense contractors. Which ones, though?

Here’s how to dig into that question and find the companies most exposed to changes in government spending, the details of government contracts, and the supply chain of each contractor.

To get insight into government policy from Bloomberg Government, first go to https://about.bgov.com/government-contracting.  BGOV follows and interprets legislation, regulation, government spending, lobbying, and campaign finance through the lens of industries and companies, enabling you to generate investment ideas and mitigate risk.

To analyze 2018 budget proposals and potentially identify winners and losers, select FY18 Skinny Budget for information on the White House’s preliminary budget outline and how it differs from the fiscal year 2017 budget.  Proposed increases in defense spending would be subsidized by potential cuts in funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the departments of State, Education, and Health & Human Services.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-19/an-easy-way-to-explore-how-changes-in-u-s-federal-spending-affect-a-contractor

See the Top 10 federal contract opportunities, updated weekly, here: https://about.bgov.com/?s=+Top+20+Opportunities