Short answer: 10 of the 12 largest federal contract obligations from Sep 14-30, 2026 were modifications on contracts the recipient already held. The other two are base delivery orders, TriWest at $1.20B and Clark Construction at $332M, and both sit on a parent vehicle.

The last 17 days of FY2026 obligated $43.25B. That is 78% of September.

It was not a wave of new competitions. Of the 12 largest obligations in that window, 10 are modifications on contracts the company already held. The other two are base delivery orders on a parent vehicle. If you were not the incumbent, and you were not on the vehicle, you could not have bid any of them that week.

Look up the Clark task order · September, the full month · FY2027 contracts you can still bid

The 12 largest checks, Sep 14-30

Transaction obligation, not the lifetime value of the contract. Sorted by the dollars obligated on that action. Source: USASpending spending_by_transaction, pulled Oct 3, 2026.

Obligated	Date	Recipient	Agency	NAICS	Mod	Kind	What it is	PIID
$1.20B	Sep 23	TriWest Healthcare Alliance	VA	524114	0	Base delivery order	August 2026 express report	36C10G26K0300
$547.3M	Sep 24	AMI Metals	CBP	541614	P00004	Modification	Option: 200,000 tons of steel	70B01C26C00000006
$519.4M	Sep 18	SpaceX	NASA	336414	72	Modification	Commercial crew, additional work	NNK17MA01T
$507.9M	Sep 17	Bechtel National	Energy	234930	627	Modification	Funding only	DEAC2701RV14136
$482.0M	Sep 30	TOTE Services	MARAD	336611	P00001	Modification	Deliver NSMV VI	693JF726F00030N
$445.9M	Sep 29	PCL Construction	State (IBWC)	237110	P00012	Modification	Progressive design-build, within scope	191BWC24C0008
$439.9M	Sep 17	Oracle Health	VA	541512	P00021	Modification	VISN 15 EHRM deployments	36C10B22N0051EHRM
$420.4M	Sep 25	General Atomics Aeronautical	CBP	488190	P00036	Modification	UAS operations and maintenance	70B02C22C00000016
$401.6M	Sep 30	Maximus Federal	CMS	561422	P00032	Modification	Contact center, funding only	75FCMC22C0038
$342.2M	Sep 30	Leidos Biomedical Research	NIH	541715	P00014	Modification	NCI task order, FY26-FY27	75N91025F00016
$332.0M	Sep 26	Clark Construction	CBP	236220	0	Base delivery order	Design-build, Laredo, Texas	70B01C26F00000874
$311.4M	Sep 22	Frequentis USA	FAA	334210	P00009	Modification	Project LIFT voice-switch modernization	693KA825C00011

"What it is" is the agency's own transaction description, shortened. Click the PIID to see the award.

The two new actions are still not open bids

TriWest, $1.20B, mod 0. The description is "Express report: August 2026." NAICS 524114 is direct health and medical insurance. The order sits under parent vehicle 36C10G19D0038. A new firm could not have proposed on an August report against a vehicle it does not hold.

Clark, $332.0M, mod 0. This one is real construction: a design-build task order in Laredo, Texas, NAICS 236220. It is also a task order. The parent IDIQ is 70B01C26D00000021. No seat on that vehicle, no bid.

CBP wrote $5.39B, and the close was incumbents

DHS was the largest civilian buyer in September at $11.36B. Customs and Border Protection was $5.39B of it. Three of the 12 checks above are CBP, and they show the pattern in one bureau:

AMI Metals, $547.3M, modification P00004. The description says the action exercises an option under FAR 52.217-6 for 200,000 tons of steel and logistical support. An option exercise is the incumbent's, by definition.

General Atomics Aeronautical, $420.4M, modification P00036. UAS operation and maintenance on a contract awarded in 2022 (PIID 70B02C22C00000016). Keeping the aircraft flying, not a new drone competition.

Clark, $332.0M. The only new CBP action in the top 12, and it is the Laredo task order above.

ICE obligated $1.43B in September and Coast Guard $1.40B. Neither bureau placed a check in this top 12. Their September was a lot of smaller actions, which is a different capture problem than losing one $500M option.

What to do if one of these is your target

Paste the PIID into search before you put the dollar figure in a pipeline review. The number in the table is the September action, not the contract.

If the kind column says modification, you did not lose a bid in September. You were not in one. The question is whether the follow-on, or the parent vehicle, recompetes.

If it says base delivery order, open the parent. TriWest's vehicle and Clark's IDIQ are linked above. The vehicle recompete is the bid. The order is not.

The competitions that are still ahead of you are contracts with an end date in FY2027, not September's modifications. The recompete list by NAICS splits the ones you can bid from the ones that are task orders. Recompete Radar is the live version.

Caveats

Mod 0 means this action is the base of that award record. It does not mean the work was competed in September. Both mod-0 rows here are delivery orders under an existing vehicle.

A modification can still be new work inside scope (Oracle's VISN 15 deployments, SpaceX additional work on commercial crew). "Not a new competition" is not "not new work." It means the agency did not open it to the market.

Transaction amount is the obligation on that action. Bechtel's $507.9M is funding on modification 627 of a long-running Energy contract, not a $507.9M award made on Sep 17.

This is the top 12 by obligation, not a census of September. The other $43B includes many smaller new awards. Your NAICS search is the census for your code.

DoD is barely in this list because DoD's September file is $74M. The year-end defense checks are not here yet.

The last 17 days of FY2026 obligated $43.25B. That is 78% of September.

Look up the Clark task order · September, the full month · FY2027 contracts you can still bid

The 12 largest checks, Sep 14-30

Transaction obligation, not the lifetime value of the contract. Sorted by the dollars obligated on that action. Source: USASpending spending_by_transaction, pulled Oct 3, 2026.

Obligated	Date	Recipient	Agency	NAICS	Mod	Kind	What it is	PIID
$1.20B	Sep 23	TriWest Healthcare Alliance	VA	524114	0	Base delivery order	August 2026 express report	36C10G26K0300
$547.3M	Sep 24	AMI Metals	CBP	541614	P00004	Modification	Option: 200,000 tons of steel	70B01C26C00000006
$519.4M	Sep 18	SpaceX	NASA	336414	72	Modification	Commercial crew, additional work	NNK17MA01T
$507.9M	Sep 17	Bechtel National	Energy	234930	627	Modification	Funding only	DEAC2701RV14136
$482.0M	Sep 30	TOTE Services	MARAD	336611	P00001	Modification	Deliver NSMV VI	693JF726F00030N
$445.9M	Sep 29	PCL Construction	State (IBWC)	237110	P00012	Modification	Progressive design-build, within scope	191BWC24C0008
$439.9M	Sep 17	Oracle Health	VA	541512	P00021	Modification	VISN 15 EHRM deployments	36C10B22N0051EHRM
$420.4M	Sep 25	General Atomics Aeronautical	CBP	488190	P00036	Modification	UAS operations and maintenance	70B02C22C00000016
$401.6M	Sep 30	Maximus Federal	CMS	561422	P00032	Modification	Contact center, funding only	75FCMC22C0038
$342.2M	Sep 30	Leidos Biomedical Research	NIH	541715	P00014	Modification	NCI task order, FY26-FY27	75N91025F00016
$332.0M	Sep 26	Clark Construction	CBP	236220	0	Base delivery order	Design-build, Laredo, Texas	70B01C26F00000874
$311.4M	Sep 22	Frequentis USA	FAA	334210	P00009	Modification	Project LIFT voice-switch modernization	693KA825C00011

"What it is" is the agency's own transaction description, shortened. Click the PIID to see the award.

The two new actions are still not open bids

CBP wrote $5.39B, and the close was incumbents

DHS was the largest civilian buyer in September at $11.36B. Customs and Border Protection was $5.39B of it. Three of the 12 checks above are CBP, and they show the pattern in one bureau:

Clark, $332.0M. The only new CBP action in the top 12, and it is the Laredo task order above.

What to do if one of these is your target

Paste the PIID into search before you put the dollar figure in a pipeline review. The number in the table is the September action, not the contract.

If the kind column says modification, you did not lose a bid in September. You were not in one. The question is whether the follow-on, or the parent vehicle, recompetes.

If it says base delivery order, open the parent. TriWest's vehicle and Clark's IDIQ are linked above. The vehicle recompete is the bid. The order is not.

Caveats

Mod 0 means this action is the base of that award record. It does not mean the work was competed in September. Both mod-0 rows here are delivery orders under an existing vehicle.

Transaction amount is the obligation on that action. Bechtel's $507.9M is funding on modification 627 of a long-running Energy contract, not a $507.9M award made on Sep 17.

This is the top 12 by obligation, not a census of September. The other $43B includes many smaller new awards. Your NAICS search is the census for your code.

DoD is barely in this list because DoD's September file is $74M. The year-end defense checks are not here yet.

The Last 17 Days of FY2026: 10 of the 12 Largest Obligations Were Modifications, Not New Competitions

The 12 largest checks, Sep 14-30

The two new actions are still not open bids

CBP wrote $5.39B, and the close was incumbents

What to do if one of these is your target

Caveats

Related Guides

Track Defense & Federal Contract Spending in Real Time

The Last 17 Days of FY2026: 10 of the 12 Largest Obligations Were Modifications, Not New Competitions

The 12 largest checks, Sep 14-30

The two new actions are still not open bids

CBP wrote $5.39B, and the close was incumbents

What to do if one of these is your target

Caveats

Related Guides

Track Defense & Federal Contract Spending in Real Time

Get Weekly Federal Contract Intelligence

Get Weekly Federal Contract Intelligence