Government averages a B- when it comes to managing Recovery Act spending. At least according to the grades issued today by market research firm INPUT, in its second report card on the Recovery Act. Here is how government performed, according to the INPUT report card: Speed of Spending: B+ (Previous Grade: B+) Reviewer’s Comments: “The federal government has continued to show unusual adeptness in dispensing a tremendous amount of money very quickly…At its current spending pace, the federal government will achieve 87 percent of the goal set by the president of having $350 billion spent by Sept. 30, 2010” Contracting…
Browsing: Procurement
The Government Accountability Office will report on the General Services Administration’s management of its supply schedules in the spring,said John Needham, a director of acquisition and sourcing management for the watchdog agency. The report will look at whether GSA’s reorganization improved management of the Multiple Award Schedules program and the effectiveness of the management tools GSA has in place, he said. Mismanagement of the schedules program led to a series of contracting scandals five years ago. The scandals prompted GAO to add interagency contracts to its High Risk List. In addition, the report will address concerns raised by the congressionally…
The Office of Management and Budget’s prospective procurement policy chief, Daniel Gordon, will face his first confirmation hurdle one week from today. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will quiz Gordon on his vision for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at 10 a.m. on Nov. 10. Gordon is slated to have his confirmation quiz alongside the president’s choice to lead the Transportation Security Administration, Erroll Southers. Check in with FedLine and FederalTimes.com that day for complete coverage.
Agency use of risky cost-based contracts has dropped over the last six-years, but the number of contracts coded as “combination contracts” is on the rise, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released today. Between 2003 and 2008, the value of cost-reimbursement contracts, which pay vendors for their actual costs to perform the work, grew from $120 billion to $136 billion. But as a percentage of overall dollars spent through the procurement process, use declined. In 2003, the $120 billion represented 34 percent of the $298 billion spent. In 2008, the $136 billion was just 26 percent of the…
UPDATE: OMB says the definition of inherently governmental functions is still being worked on. Expect to hear something by the end of the year. The Office of Management and Budget just released two long-awaited procurement reform memos. The first is about increasing competition while reducing risk in contracting. The second is about strategic planning for the civilian agency acquisition workforce. So far no word on a A third piece of expected guidance meant to clarify the definition of inherently governmental functions was not released today as expected [see update above]. That memo will help agencies carry out earlier guidance to…
UPDATE: Full story now on FederalTimes.com. Click here. Embattled Defense Contract Audit Agency director April Stephenson was removed from her post earlier today, the Defense Department has announced. Stephenson, who was spent her entire career at DCAA, was reassigned to the staff of DoD Comptroller Robert Hale. Hale, who oversees DCAA, replaced her with Army Auditor General Patrick Fitzgerald, said Navy Cmdr. Darryn James, a Pentagon spokesman. Fitzgerald takes over Nov. 9. The move was announced during an internal teleconference at 2 p.m. today. Following the teleconference DCAA staff was notified via email, James said. Fitzgerald was chosen to take…
The group that crafts the Federal Acquisition Regulation has been hard at work. Today the FAR Council published seven new, interim or final rules in the Federal Register to enact congressional mandates. They are: A final rule limiting the term of a non-competitive contracts awarded during an emergency response to one year. A final rule granting Government Accountability Office auditors and investigators the right to interview contractor employees. An interim rule requiring that contract award fees be tied to positive outcomes. An interim rule limiting what charges contractors can pass along to the government from their subcontractors. An interim rule…
Two Defense Department agencies announced the release of their fiscal year 2008 contractor inventories in today’s Federal Register. The inventory for the Missle Defense Agency, which posted its headcount here, doesn’t appear to include much information about the number of contractors performing the work. In fact, that column appears to be blank for most of the contracts listed in the 210 page document. The Defense Contract Management Agency also posted a notice about its list, but at the time this is being posted, the list isn’t on the agency’s site. The notice says it has 30 days to post its…
It’s official: Daniel Gordon, the acting chief counsel of the Government Accountability Office, is President Barack Obama’s pick to lead the Office of Federal Procurement Policy inside the Office of Management and Budget. Gordon has a long history in procurement law since he joined GAO in 1992. From 2000 through 2006 he led GAO’s procurement law division, which hears bid protests on government contracts. GAO’s bid protest decisions frequently set precedent for government contracting officers. In 2006, he was named GAO’s deputy general counsel and has served as GAO’s acting general counsel since May. As administrator of OFPP, Gordon will…
Agencies are still having trouble spotting contractors on the battlefield, the Government Accountability Office reported today. That’s because they aren’t consistently using the new SPOT (Synchronized Redeployment and Operational Tracker) system designed to track information about contracts and contractor employees in Iraq and Afghanistan, GAO found in a new report. Congress established the system in 2008 to help the Agency for International Development, the State Department and the Defense Department monitor and share information on contracts and contractor personnel in the combat zone. The information meant to be collected includes the number of contract personnel on the battlefield, the number…