About $1.97M to LinQuest — a period running 11 to 31 December 2019, twenty days, the shortest among the federal spending records this site holds as of 2026-09-01

1A period of twenty days

The period runs from 2019-12-11 to 2019-12-31, twenty days, the shortest among the 222 federal spending records this site holds as of 2026-09-01. Against obligations of about $1,969,148 that comes to close to a hundred thousand dollars a day.

The description reads artificial intelligence task 1 labor, so payment for hours worked can be read from it. Taking the form of a delivery order placed under an existing framework, it reads as carving out the work of that period from an agreement already in place.

2It lines up with a fiscal boundary

An end date of 31 December coincides with the end of the calendar year. The United States federal fiscal year begins in October, so late December is the close of the first quarter. The way the period is cut may follow an accounting boundary rather than the shape of the work.

The record gives no reason. What it supports is that about $1.97 million stands obligated across twenty days. Short awards sometimes reflect fitting money inside a fiscal or quarterly frame rather than the work itself.

3Short contracts characterise federal spending records

Sorting the 222 federal spending records this site holds as of 2026-09-01 by period gives 53 under one year, 78 between one and two, 39 between two and three, 46 between three and five, and 6 at five or more. The median is 2.00 years.

Across the 207 Department of Defense contracts this site holds as of 2026-09-01, the median period is 10.7 years and not one runs under a year. Within the same federal procurement, the distribution of periods differs entirely by whether the subject is manufacturing equipment or labour and services, with more than a fivefold gap in the median.

4Twenty days, put in numbers

The shortness of the period takes on a different meaning beside the amount. Reduced to a daily figure, the character of the award appears.

The description reads "labour for AI task 1" — payment for hours worked. It takes the form of a delivery order placed under an existing framework, carving out the work for that period. A short award sometimes reflects less the work itself than an operation to fit money within the bounds of a fiscal year or quarter.