GAO: DHS procurement efforts still lag

Earlier today we mentioned that Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is at the top of the list of candidates to take over the Homeland Security Department.

And, as the Government Accountability Office reminds us in a new report released today, she would take over an agency full of management challenges.

From the GAO:

However, most initiatives related to defining and identifying the acquisition workforce and assessing workforce needs have not yet produced results and in some cases are progressing more slowly than originally projected.

The department spends more than $10 billion each year on contracts — including some expensive and hard-to-manage projects like the “virtual fence.” But it had only a handful of contracting officers when it was stood up in 2003; DHS has made some strides since then, but, according to the GAO, it has a long way to go.

That’ll be just one of the many problems confronting the new secretary.