After my spec ops days, I (strangely at the time) went in a finance direction and became a high level fed gov check signer. The easiest way to lose favor in an organization where it's hard to lose favor? Ask questions about why such and such program or some line item seems to be too  expensive.  No bueno approach if you value your fed gov career.  It's broken and no regulation can fix it. CO's do what they want despite what are actually pretty good guidelines in place. The FAR, DFARS, etc are complicated, but the rules make sense...if they are followed. Shocker: they aren't.  The idea that a 1% cut in spending is difficult is absolutely ludicrous once you know specifically how money is spent in the Fed Gov.