The General Services Administration should focus on structural changes to its Public Buildings Service, a group of senators from both parties said in a May 21 letter to GSA’s acting administrator Dan Tangherlini. Senators Tom Carper, D-Del., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said in the letter that GSA should also address “long-standing property management problems” in order to minimize wasteful spending. GSA is conducting an agencywide review after an embarrassing scandal that centered on a lavish 2010 conference in Las Vegas that cost $822,000 for 300 employees. The scandal forced out the agency’s top leaders,…
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The General Services Administration announced Monday it wants to give away 12 historic lighthouses to state or local governments or historical groups – a move which would save the agency money on maintenance costs, according to GSA. Linda Chero, the acting commissioner for GSA’s Public Buildings Service, said the agency hopes to find groups willing to preserve the lighthouses now that the Coast Guard no longer needs them. “Historic lighthouses are unique in that they have sentimental and tangible value as historic landmarks in local communities.Through the preservation program, GSA helps find new stewards for excess lighthouses that are no…
In the mood for a little irony? Even as Congress is laboring to rescue the U.S. Postal Service from a protracted financial crisis (proposed solutions include pumping billions of dollars into the mail carrier), federal agencies are now under orders to take steps that will reduce their spending on postage. Among those steps: Using flat-rate boxes and envelopes whenever possible; taking more advantage of USPS discounts; and reducing hard-copy mailings between agencies, according to a recent General Services Administration bulletin to agency heads. As reasons for the new policy, GSA cites several Obama administration executive orders instructing agencies to reduce waste,…
Dan Tangherlini, acting administrator at the General Services Administration, said Tuesday that budget cuts has made the agency more important than ever. “In this time of fiscal austerity and budget uncertainty, the role of the GSA and the expertise of our contracting officers have never been more vital,” Tangherlini said. Tangherlini said in a video address at the kickoff to the GSA Training Conference and Expo inSan Antoniothat agencies must continue their critical operations while funding ways to scale back on overhead costs. The White House tapped Tangherlini to replace Administrator Martha Johnson on April 2 and clean up the…
An initial group of nine organizations has been selected to provide independent security reviews of cloud products and services used in the federal government. As part of the Federal Risk and Authorization program (FedRAMP), expected to launch June 6, vendors must work with an approved third party assessment organization, or 3PAO, to validate if they’ve implemented baseline security standards. For years, these security reviews have varied across government and have cost agencies millions of dollars each year. Approved 3PAOs include (click here for contact information): COACT, Inc. Department of Transportation Enterprise Service Center Dynamics Research Corporation J.D. Biggs and Associates Inc.…
The General Services Administration is canceling Oracle Corp.’s Schedule 70 contract for information technology services because the company failed to meet the terms of its contract agreement, the agency confirmed. The company can finish work on existing task orders, but agencies cannot place new orders or extend existing task orders with Oracle after May 17, GSA announced on its website Wednesday. Blanket purchase agreements with Oracle through Schedule 70 will terminate on May 17. Agencies can still purchase Oracle software from technology resellers that have Schedule 70 contracts. An Oracle spokeswoman declined to comment. “Based on the GSA’s review of Oracle America,…
General Services Administration regional commissioner Jeff Neely’s wife had her own parking space at a federal building, the agency’s inspector general said today — even though she is not a federal employee. The revelation was the latest nugget to come out of the ongoing conference spending scandal that has already brought down large swaths of the agency’s leadership. And judging by IG Brian Miller’s comments to the Senate Appropriations financial services and general government subcommittee, plenty more is likely to come out. The OIG is conducting “many more investigations,” he said, though he could not say exactly how many. “Every…
Federal officials have completed two test runs of the government’s new cloud computing assesment program to work out any kinks before the June launch. The General Services Administration, which manages the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), held training sessions for chief information officers from GSA and the Defense and Homeland Security departments to simulate their roles on an interagency review board, said Dave McClure, associate administrator of GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies. CIOs reviewed mock security assesments to discuss if they met FedRAMP standards. Starting in June, the interagency board will review companies on GSA’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service contract and others…
The administration’s original response to the General Services Administration’s lavish $822,000 conference was merely a “slap on the wrist,” a senior agency official wrote in July 2011. Top GSA administrators were aware of the 2010 conference and its lavish spending, but Jeff Neely, who organized the conference, was only suspended early in April. At the end of 2011 — long after the White House knew about the troubled conference — Neely received a $9,000 bonus. Read the whole story shortly on the front page of federaltimes.com.
Acting General Services Administration head Dan Tangherlini just posted a YouTube video addressing the burgeoning conference spending scandal — and he is not happy. The infamous 2010 Western Regions Conference didn’t just violate travel, acquisition and good conduct rules, he said: It undermined GSA’s entire purpose. Just as importantly, those responsible violated rules of common sense, the spirit of public service, and the trust that America’s taxpayers have placed in all of us. Among other things, GSA creates and manages the rules and regulations governing travel and conferences. As a result, the actions of those responsible for the Western Regions…