Department of Justice

The Department of Justice, a cabinet department and the federal government's principal law enforcement and litigation agency, awards both contracts and grants across its litigating divisions, law enforcement bureaus, correctional system, and grant-making offices. The agency's contract portfolio spans facilities maintenance, food service, medical and diagnostic services, information technology, and reentry and detention services. The grant portfolio funds criminal justice research, victim services, juvenile justice programs, and tribal justice initiatives.

The Department of Justice has issued 1,314,132 federal contract awards since 1978, with combined potential value of $420.78 billion and $164.84 billion obligated. Recent contract volume has declined: 39,131 awards in 2023, 36,112 in 2024, 32,545 in 2025, 23,886 in 2026, and 77 year-to-date in 2027. The contract portfolio is highly fragmented by award count; McKesson Corporation leads with 9,470 awards and $1.47 billion in combined potential value over the last five years, followed by Domestic Awardees (Undisclosed) with 7,617 awards and $137.6 million, and Metlang LLC with 4,137 awards and $132.9 million. McKesson's concentration by potential value ($1.47 billion) is notably higher than other top vendors, reflecting pharmaceutical and medical supply contracting, but McKesson and the top five vendors together represent only 1 percent of the combined potential value across the portfolio, signaling that contract value is distributed across a long tail of vendors. The agency transacts heavily through Schedule task orders, BPA calls, and modifications; recent awards carry no reported potential value at high frequency. Eighty-three percent of awards carry no set-aside designation; 16 percent are total small-business set-asides, with 8(a) sole source, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, woman-owned small business, and other designations each representing less than 1 percent.

The Department of Justice has awarded 171,677 federal grants since 1986, obligating $95.29 billion in combined federal dollars. Recent grant activity has contracted sharply: 5,185 awards in 2023, 4,675 in 2024, 1,890 in 2025, 425 in 2026, and 1 year-to-date in 2027. Grant recipients are highly fragmented; over the last five years, the Crime and Delinquency Pennsylvania Commission leads by federal dollars with 60 awards and $243.5 million obligated, followed by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council with 51 awards and $225.3 million, and New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety with 55 awards and $203.9 million. The top five recipients by federal dollars represent only 1 percent of the combined federal dollars obligated, indicating broad distribution across state and local government partners and nonprofit organizations. Grants are predominantly Project Grants (68 percent) with smaller shares of Formula Grants (19 percent), Cooperative Agreements (8 percent), and Block Grants (5 percent).

Recent contract opportunities span Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities maintenance (roofing replacement at FCC Butner, shower partition replacement at MDC Brooklyn, water loop repair at FCI Sheridan), medical and diagnostic services (optometrist services, mobile diagnostic services at FCI Miami), reentry services (residential reentry centers and home confinement in Hampton Roads and Harrisburg), food service (bread and hamburger/hot dog buns), and investigative equipment (FBI's Princeton Scientific DWS.100 System sole-source procurement). The Federal Bureau of Prisons issued multiple small-business set-aside requests for tattoo removal services across Arizona, Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania facilities and for court reporting services through the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Tennessee. Grant opportunities include NIJ research on crime and justice (crime and justice research, human trafficking, school safety, gender dysphoria and violent crime), BJA programs (Missing and Unidentified Human Remains, Integrity in American Elections, Special Attorneys Program), and OJJDP youth-focused initiatives (strategies to support children exposed to violence, opioid-affected youth, mentoring, family treatment courts). BJS seeks a Cooperative Agreement renewal for tribal law enforcement and court census programs, and OVC invites applications for antiterrorism and emergency assistance for Highland Park, Illinois crime victims.

The Department of Justice works to enforce federal law, to seek just punishment for the guilty, and to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice.