Nearly 40% of irobot’s revenues were from government-contracted military robots. As a contractor or a subcontractor to the U.S. government, irobot was subject to federal regulation. Fiscal policy and expenditure can be volatile, not only through a single presidency, but certainly during the transition from one presidency to the next. The volatility and unknown demand of the U.S. government presented a problem. The economic fallout from the recession also impacted U.S. federal budgetary considerations. Emphasis and focus had been placed on larger, more troubled industries, with large bailout packages made available to financial and automotive companies. It remains to be seen how these large outlays will affect the federal government’s ability to continue to fund contracts for robotics.