And the federal government is a remarkably ignorant customer. They don't know what they are asking for, meddle in the details adding in things they think they

And the federal government is a remarkably ignorant customer. They don't know what they are asking for, meddle in the details adding in things they think they need, and don't really know what to pay but often think lower=better. Top that off with insane complex procurement rules that require the work be divided up to meet social goals: x% to small biz, y% to 8a, z% to hub zone and so on and you have a guaranteed mess. Even if there was a highly qualified company to do the work, the FAR requires it be divided up. Top that off with a silly idea that a company needs to have past performance doing something that's never been done before, and well you end up with selection committees picking the "safe" (I.e. Big firm) choice. And you're guaranteed to get a firm that doesn't know how to innovate, they just imitate and throw money, hardware and sub contractors at the problem.