Defense and healthcare may take the biggest hits when Congress finally settles on a plan to reduce the deficit, but every contractor will feel the squeeze. A Bloomberg Government study looked at probable trends in spending reductions and the impact those cuts might have on the contracting community. Bob Litan, director of research at Bloomberg Government, joins us now to look at part three in his study.

The General Services Administration tried to award a blanket purchase agreement for cell phone services. Verizon protested, and Government Accountability Office upheld the protest. It said GSA tried to depart too widely from commercial practices. The lesson learned: You better know what actually happens in an industry before trying to customize standard practices.

More than 62,000 veterans live on the streets. That’s 7 percent fewer than last year. But the departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development want to find homes for all veterans by 2015. Some advocates say progress isn’t happening fast enough.

The General Services Administration is asking federal workers in Chicago to empty their own waste bins. It’s part of an experiment to save money on custodial fees. The National Federation of Federal Employees doesn’t like it.

(Correction: During the interview, Paidock’s title is misstated. His correct title is GSA Council regional vice president for the Great Lakes Region.)

Professional certifications can bring people better and more lucrative job opportunities. But both the certification process and the people have to keep up with new technology, especially in cybersecurity. Recently a candidate was elected to the (ISC)2 board of directors. Dave Lewis wants to reform the organization’s signature certification, the CISSP, which stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional.