President Biden awarded the leaders of the former Jan. 6 House Select Committee, former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Mississippi Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, the second-highest civilian medal for their ‘exemplary deeds of service for their country,’ according to the White House.

‘The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to citizens of the United States of America who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others. The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice,’ the White House detailed in a statement Thursday. 

The White House announced 20 people across the nation would receive the Presidential Citizens Medal on Thursday, including Cheney and Thompson, who Biden lauded as ‘intrepid’ and holding a ‘steadfast commitment to truth.’ 

‘Throughout two decades in public service, including as a Congresswoman for Wyoming and Vice Chair of the Committee on the January 6 attack, Liz Cheney has raised her voice—and reached across the aisle—to defend our Nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency. Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together,’ the White House said in its statement of Cheney. 

‘Born and raised in a segregated Mississippi, as a college student inspired by the Civil Rights movement, Bennie Thompson volunteered on campaigns and registered southern Black voters. That call to serve eventually led him to Congress, where he chaired the House January 6th Committee—at the forefront of defending the rule of law with unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to truth,’ the statement on Thompson read. 

Thompson served as the chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, with Cheney serving as the vice chair. The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House.

The committee concluded its 18-month investigation in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House, and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending that Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to his supporters breaching the Capitol.

The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakers, Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office. 

Incoming Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., reacted to Biden’s decision to award Cheney with the medal in a comment to Fox Digital on Thursday, slamming her as a former elected official who ‘represents partisanship and divisiveness.’

‘President Biden was either going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn’t deserve either. She represents partisanship and divisiveness, not Wyoming,’ he said.

Republican elected officials and President-elect Donald Trump have railed against the committee and its leaders for years, with a recent Republican House report calling on the FBI to investigate Cheney for ‘potential criminal witness tampering’ related to her role on the former select committee.

‘Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,’ stated a report released last month by House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. ‘Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge.’

Cheney and Thompson both slammed the report in comments to Fox Digital last month. 

‘The January 6th Committee’s hearings and report featured scores of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration,’ Cheney said. ‘All of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800 page report. Now, Chairman Loudermilk’s ‘Interim Report’ intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did. Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.’

Cheney had served as the third-highest ranking Republican in the House but was ousted from her role as GOP conference chair by her colleagues in 2021. Cheney lost her 2022 primary run for re-election to Trump-backed Rep. Harriet Hageman. 

The report followed speculation that Biden could grant Cheney a presidential pardon ahead of leaving the Oval Office. Late last year, Trump renewed his longstanding criticisms of Cheney and the Jan. 6 committee, suggesting she and Thompson could face jail time. 

‘Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,‘ he said in an interview with NBC. ‘They deleted and destroyed all evidence.’

‘And Cheney was behind it. And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee,’ he continued. ‘For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.’

The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second-highest honor a civilian can receive from the president, after the Presidential Medal of Freedom, according to the Associated Press. 

The FBI under the Biden administration’s leadership has faced repeated scandals over the last four years, including in the waning days of the administration when a suspected terror attack rocked New Orleans early on New Year’s Day morning.

Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was nominated by Trump in his first administration, announced last month that he would step down from his post, clearing the path for Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, to rally support for his confirmation process in earnest ahead of Trump’s inauguration this month. 

As President Biden’s administration comes to a close, Fox Digital revisits some of the top scandals the FBI has faced in the last four years. 

FBI initially reports New Year’s Day attack ‘not a terrorist event’

Chaos broke out on New Orleans’ famed Bourbon Street just after 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day when a truck plowed through crowds of revelers, leaving at least 15 dead and dozens of others injured. 

The FBI took the lead on the case and landed in hot water with conservatives and others for initially reporting to the public that the attack was not an instance of terrorism before ultimately backtracking. 

‘We’ll be taking over the investigative lead for this event. This is not a terrorist event,’ said New Orleans field office FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan during a Wednesday morning press conference. 

During that same press conference, however, the mayor of New Orleans contradicted Duncan’s comment and minced no words in detailing that the city faced an act of terror. 

‘Know that the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack. It’s all still under investigation,’ Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.

The FBI soon backtracked from its position that the attack was not an act of terror, releasing statements throughout the day that they were investigating the matter as related to terrorism, including confirming that an ISIS flag was found on the suspect’s vehicle that plowed through the crowds. 

‘This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,’ the FBI said in one of its three statements provided to Fox Digital.

The FBI’s handling of the matter, however, has sparked outrage from elected officials, Trump allies and voters on social media.

‘The FBI has a no-fail mission. There is no room for error. When they fail, Americans die. It’s a necessity that Kash Patel gets confirmed ASAP,’ a source close to Trump told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning. 

Other conservatives and Trump allies railed against the FBI on social media, claiming the FBI has focused resources on issues such as DEI training and hiring instead of investigating and preventing crime.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and other conservatives also took issue with the FBI for allegedly responding to the suspect’s home in Texas after the media had already staked out the property. 

‘The FBI didn’t show up to the NOLA suspect’s address until 1pm today. We were on scene before. No one came out of the home or answered the door,’ New York Post reporter Jennie Taer posted to X on Wednesday.

Blackburn responded to the Post reporter by saying the FBI had ‘failed’ its mission as the nation’s top law enforcement agency. 

‘The fact that a reporter has better intel than the FBI tells us all we need to know. The FBI has failed its core mission,’ Blackburn posted. 

The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was armed with a Glock and a .308 rifle during the attack and was killed after opening fire on police. Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen who lived in Texas, is believed to have acted alone, the FBI announced Thursday. 

Trump slammed Biden and his administration’s policies for the attack. 

‘With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe. That time has come, only worse than ever imagined. Joe Biden is the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER,’ Trump posted on Truth Social.

Earlier Thursday, when approached for comment on the criticisms of its handling of the attack, the FBI directed Fox News Digital to its three previous statements on the attack that described it as an act of terror but did not comment on the New Orleans’ agent saying Wednesday that the attack was not connected to terrorism. 

‘An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,’ one FBI statement said.

‘The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We are aggressively running down all leads to identify any possible associates of the subject,’ the statement added.

Trump slams Wray for ‘illegal raid’ on Mar-a-Lago

Approximately 30 armed FBI agents converged on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August 2022 to execute a search warrant regarding classified documents in the former president’s possession. 

The unprecedented raid included agents rifling through former, and upcoming, first lady Melania Trump’s wardrobe. The agents seized 33 boxes of documents. 

‘He invaded my home. I’m suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I’m very unhappy with the things he’s done. And crime is at an all-time high. Migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and from mental institutions, as we’ve discussed. I can’t say I’m thrilled,’ Trump said of Wray during an interview with NBC that aired Sunday. 

Earlier this year, it was revealed the Biden administration authorized the use of deadly force during the raid. The jarring revelation added fuel to the fire of conservatives slamming the raid, though the FBI clarified that the same language was used in a similar search warrant for President Biden’s Delaware home.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who called for Wray’s resignation in a scathing letter last month, argued there were ‘serious questions’ about the raid, considering that Trump had been cooperating with investigators with regard to the classified documents. 

‘This raid occurred despite serious questions about the need for it. President Trump apparently was cooperating with the investigation, notwithstanding liberal press reports. He voluntarily turned over 15 boxes of documents months before the FBI’s drastic escalation,’ Grassley continued, adding that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never faced such a raid ‘even though she and her staff mishandled highly classified information while using a non-government server.’

Trump, in reaction to Wray’s resignation, again railed against the ‘illegal’ raid on Mar-a-Lago.

‘Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America. They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them,’ he wrote on Truth Social. 

Wray testified before the ​​House Judiciary Committee in July and said he ‘would not call it a raid’ on Mar-a-Lago, instead saying the FBI conducted ‘the execution of a lawful search warrant.’

The FBI’s ‘Richmond memo’ on traditional Catholics 

In January 2023, conservative lawmakers slammed an internal FBI memo from the Richmond field office titled ‘Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.’

The memo identified ‘radical-traditionalist Catholic[s]’ as potential ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists’ and said that ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) in radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development.’

The memo was rescinded, but lawmakers scrutinized Wray as to why Americans were targeted due to their religious beliefs, which defies the U.S. Constitution. 

Twenty Republican lawmakers in a letter to Wray last year said the memo ‘singled out traditional Catholics for their pro-life views, accusing RTCs of ‘hostility towards abortion-rights advocates’ in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision.’

‘This specific call out to pro-life views is of even greater concern, considering the slow rate of investigation and response to the violent attacks that a number of pro-life pregnancy centers and Catholic Churches have experienced since the Dobbs decision was leaked in May of last year,’ they wrote.

But Wray said at a 2023 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that ‘We do not and will not conduct investigations based on anybody’s exercise of their constitutionally protected religious [expression].’

The FBI also came under fire durin​​g Wray’s tenure when the FBI raided a home and arrested a pro-life man in Pennsylvania in 2022.

Mark Houck, a Catholic father of seven who would often pray outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic, was arrested at his rural Pennsylvania home in Kintnersville by the FBI. The arrest stemmed from an altercation he had with a Planned Parenthood escort in Philadelphia in October 2021. Houck was accused of pushing the abortion clinic escort, who allegedly verbally harassed Houck’s 12-year-old son outside the clinic.  

The Biden administration alleged Houck violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which makes it a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone because that person provides reproductive health care. 

Houck was acquitted by a jury last year after arguing that he was protecting his son. He and his wife, Ryan-Marie, argued that the FBI used excessive force during the arrest, filing a lawsuit against the DOJ this year alleging the arrest followed a ‘faulty and malicious investigation.’

Parents outraged over DOJ targeting school board meetings 

The DOJ and FBI were heavily criticized by parents nationwide in 2021 when Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo directing the FBI to use counterterrorism tools related to parents speaking out at school board meetings against transgender-related issues and critical race theory curricula.

The memorandum followed the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sending a letter to President Biden and asking that the federal government investigate parents protesting at school board meetings, claiming school officials were facing threats at meetings. 

The NSBA requested that parents’ actions be examined under the Patriot Act as ‘domestic terrorists,’ sparking Garland’s eventual memo, which did not use the phrase ‘domestic terrorist.’

‘After surveying local law enforcement, U.S. Attorney’s offices around the country reported back to Main Justice that there was no legitimate law-enforcement basis for the Attorney General’s directive to use federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources to investigate school board-related threats,’ the House Judiciary Committee stated in an interim report on the memo last year. 

Garland testified before the Senate last year that the memo ‘was aimed at violence and threats of violence against a whole host of school personnel,’ not parents ‘making complaints to their school board,’ but the memo set off a firestorm of criticism from parents nonetheless. 

‘The premier law enforcement agency of the United States of America, the FBI, was used as a weapon by the DOJ against parents who dared to voice their concerns at the most local level: their school board,’ Moms for Liberty founder Tiffany Justice told Fox News Digital last year. 

Allegations of Biden family corruption not investigated

In Grassley’s blistering 11-page letter to Wray last month, he slammed the FBI for acting as an ‘accomplice to the Democrats’ false information campaign’ surrounding his investigation into ‘alleged Biden-family corruption.’

Grassley said the FBI ‘sat on bribery allegations’ against Biden when he served as vice president, as well as Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and Ukrainian officials. 

‘Consistent with that FBI failure, yet another glaring example of FBI’s broken promises under your leadership is its inexcusable failure to investigate bribery allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, while strictly scrutinizing former President Trump. You’ve repeatedly claimed you would ensure the FBI does justice, ‘free of fear, favor, or partisan influence.’ The FBI under your watch, however, had possession of incriminating information against President Biden for three years until I exposed the existence of the record outlining those allegations, but did nothing to investigate it,’ he wrote. 

At question in the investigation was an FBI-generated FD-1023 form that allegedly described a multimillion-dollar criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. Grassley ultimately acquired the document through legally protected disclosures by Department of Justice whistleblowers. 

That document reflects the FBI’s interview with a ‘highly credible’ confidential human source who described meetings and conversations they had with an executive of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings over the course of several years, starting in 2015. Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma at the time. 

Biden denied the accusations, calling the bribery allegations a ‘bunch of malarkey’ last year. 

‘Still, to-date, the DOJ and FBI have neither answered whether they investigated the substance of the FD-1023, nor have they provided an explanation for any effort undertaken to obtain the financial records and other pieces of evidence referenced within the document,’ Grassley wrote to Wray on Monday. ‘This sounds a lot like Director Comey’s leadership of the FBI, which was nothing short of shameful.’

When asked about Grassley’s letter last month, the FBI said it ‘has repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to responding to Congressional oversight and being transparent with the American people.’

‘Director Wray and Deputy Director Abbate have taken strong actions toward achieving accountability in the areas mentioned in the letter and remain committed to sharing information about the continuously evolving threat environment facing our nation and the extraordinary work of the FBI.’

Wray suggests Trump was hit by ‘shrapnel’ during first assassination attempt

Trump faced a shocking assassination attempt in July while giving a speech at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The shooter, perched on the roof of a nearby building, fired a series of shots that grazed Trump’s right ear and wounded two rally attendees. Local father and volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore was fatally struck while protecting his family.

Wray came under criticism regarding the assassination attempt when he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee and cast doubt on whether a bullet actually struck Trump. 

‘I think with respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that, you know, hit his ear,’ Wray said at the hearing.

Trump blasted him online for the comment.

‘FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress yesterday that he wasn’t sure if I was hit by shrapnel, glass, or a bullet (the FBI never even checked!), but he was sure that Crooked Joe Biden was physically and cognitively ​​’uneventful’ – Wrong!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social in July. 

​​’No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. The hospital called it a ‘bullet wound to the ear,’ and that is what it was. No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!’

The FBI later confirmed a bullet, ‘​​whether whole or fragmented,’ struck Trump.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Senate Republicans are urging expedited confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration appointments, particularly those for crucial national security posts, in the wake of a New Year’s attack in New Orleans where a terrorist suspect drove a car into a large crowd, killing more than a dozen people. 

‘Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the senseless terror attack in New Orleans,’ said incoming Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on X. 

‘With reports of ISIS inspiration, the American people expect clear answers from the administration,’ Thune said. ‘The threat posed by ISIS will outlast this administration, and this is a clear example of why the Senate must get President Trump’s national security team in place as quickly as possible.’

The FBI said the holiday attack left at least 14 people dead and dozens of others injured. Israel revealed that two of its citizens were among those injured. Victims’ names are not to be released until autopsies are finished and families are notified, New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna said in a statement. 

Republicans in the Senate were already eager to quickly push through Trump’s selections, including Kash Patel for FBI director, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. But with the latest attack and others developing around the country, many lawmakers have indicated that a prompt confirmation process is even more crucial. 

Incoming Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., wrote on X, ‘The U.S. Senate must confirm President Trump’s national security team as soon as possible. Lives depend on it.’

‘I’ll be working to ensure President Trump has every tool at his disposal, including a fully confirmed national security and intelligence team ASAP to investigate these attacks and make our country safe again,’ said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in response to the attack. 

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., echoed that sentiment in her own statement, saying, ‘We must work nonstop to get President Trump’s national security team in place without delay.’

Several other Republicans made similar calls for Trump’s choices for national security posts to be prioritized and confirmed without hesitation. 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., expressed frustration that the FBI was apparently behind on intelligence regarding the suspect in the New Orleans attack. 

‘The fact that a reporter has better intel than the FBI tells us all we need to know. The FBI has failed its core mission,’ the senator wrote on X in response to a report that New York Post reporters had arrived at the suspect’s home before the agency. 

‘America needs a fearless fighter like [Patel] at the FBI,’ Blackburn continued.

Two sources on an FBI call with House and Senate members on Thursday informed Fox News that the FBI claimed they had zero intelligence on suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar before the attack.

The FBI told lawmakers that Jabbar was ‘inspired’ by ISIS but added that they have no evidence yet that the terrorist group directed him.

Spending on contracting and supplies is the second-biggest major spending group for the federal government, according to usaspending.gov. More than $1.1 trillion was spent on deals negotiated by the government to hire contractors for work. The category has increased by 19% from five years ago. 

‘We expect massive cuts of all federal contractors and others who are overbilling the federal government,’ said DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy on Fox Business’ Sunday Morning Futures.

Contracting commercial companies for government goods and services dates back to the late 1700s. Over the years, laws have streamlined the process and helped make contracts more competitive. 

‘We’re on the side of change. We got started by helping the Navy and then the Army get ready for World War Two to move faster, to do things better,’ Booz Allen Hamilton CEO Horacio Rozanski said. ‘Now we’re the largest player in AI and cyber in the federal government, and we’re very proud of that whole history. But that’s a whole history of change. My sense is we’re ready for change. The country voted for it, and we need to see it happen.’

Booz Allen Hamilton is among the largest government contractors. In 2024, the company had more than $8 billion worth in agreements from agencies like the Defense Department, the General Services Administration and the National Science Foundation. 

‘One of the things we’ve been talking about for years is this notion of outcome-based contracting. Instead of trying to figure out what does everything cost and how to do it. Let’s define an outcome, something that the government really needs, and let private industry compete for that,’ Rozanski said. 

Federal agencies are responsible for negotiating the best deal for the government, but contractors have a history of overcharging. In 2014, a Defense Department Inspector General report showed that the agency was charged as much as 831% for spare parts. Another more recent audit found a 7,943% markup on a soap dispenser sold to the Air Force. 

Military contractors are only required to provide an explanation for prices if the contract is worth more than $2 million. If an item is labeled as ‘commercial,’ companies do not have to justify prices. 

In 2023, Booz Allen Hamilton agreed to pay $377.45 million to settle allegations that the company improperly billed commercial and international costs to its government contracts. 

‘I think part of the challenge is the system. This system is built to manage risk and to get things done with the lowest risk possible. It is not built for speed,’ Rozanski said. ‘We need DOGE to succeed in shifting towards efficiency, towards effectiveness. It’s what our clients want, it’s what we want. Will there be winners and losers in that? Of course. I expect I want Booz Allen to be a winner in that. But at the end of the day, we need to compete.’

The Department of Defense obligated around $550 billion to government contracts in 2024, more than half of all government spending on contractors. Some analysts estimate the department could save millions by streamlining negotiations. 

‘They’re for reducing some of the bureaucracy, but they’re also for understanding that there is a difference. To paint the entire federal government, the giant DMV is not fair,’ Rozanski said. ‘There are all these areas where more can be done to do it faster, to do it better or to not do it at all, to get things done.’

Some small businesses say that DOGE likely won’t have an impact on their work. 

‘From a sort of an efficiency standpoint, we all of us have to operate at the optimum level of efficiency,’ Arkisys co-founder Dave Barnhart said. ‘I’m not quite sure that’ll have an effect, because we’re essentially already operating as quickly as we possibly can within the U.S. government.’

Arkisys has a contract with the Space Development Agency, which is part of the Space Force. The Port would give service providers, making repairs in space, a permanent station to deliver cargo or supplies. The federal government has specific contracts set aside for small businesses that helps level the playing field. 

‘This particular arena of space and most especially the domain that we are talking about, which is servicing, that is doing something to a spacecraft in space after its launch, hasn’t been done before. It’s a wide-open research area. All kinds of innovation can happen,’ Barnhart said. 

Other small business owners say they believe DOGE could help make the contracting process move faster. 

‘One day you come up with the idea quickly. You got to get the funding and you got to develop it,’ Aspetto co-founder Abbas Haider said. ‘You put in your white paper, that’s phase one funding. Then it’s phase two funding, then it’s phase three funding. By the time you’re on phase two, it’s months. Someone else has probably already copied your idea or already done something similar. So, why would I go to the government for those funding?’ 

Instead of applying for specific contracts the government needs, Aspetto sells its high-tech body army products to various agencies within the U.S. government. 

‘In our case, we’re just going to go ahead and take the risk and fund it ourselves, because it would just move things a lot faster,’ Haider said. 

Aspetto makes bullet-resistant clothing, women’s body armor and K9-bullet-proof vests. The company has contracts with the Defense Department, the State Department and NASA. The FBI is also outfitting U.S. Border Patrol agents with Aspetto products. 

‘I do believe they’re going to focus on innovation. If you’re going to compete with countries like China, you have to focus on innovation,’ Haider said. 

NASA contributes most of its funding to contractors to develop innovative products for space travel. In 2024, the agency allocated more than 76% of its budget to contracts. 

‘With the right incentives, the private industry can also bring existing technologies that have already been proven in the private sector to the government to make that happen faster,’ Rozanski said. ‘I really believe that there’s a significant opportunity to save money, to do it faster.’