Government contractors who blow the whistle on improper use of federal dollars or unethical behavior would be protected against retaliation under a bill introduced by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Recent laws that extend protections to some contractors have created a patchwork of inadequate protections, McCaskill, chairwoman of the Senate Contracting Oversight Subcommittee, said during a hearing Tuesday. For example, whistleblower provisions added for defense contractor employees in 2008 do not protect contractors from retaliation by a government official nor does it cover subcontractors. Senate Bill 241 would extend whistleblower protections to all government contractors and subcontractors, and consolidate some of…
Browsing: Procurement
John Farenish, former Defense Contract Audit Agency general counsel, has joined the Venable law firm’s government contracts group in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Friday. Farenish spent the last 13 years at DCAA, which audits the financial records of government contractors, litigates cases involving contractors and is also responsible for suspension and debarment proceedings against contractors. Prior to DCAA, Farenish served as counsel in the Navy’s Procurement Integrity Office, held criminal investigations posts for the Defense Department Inspector General and Army Criminal Investigation Command, and prosecuted cases during active duty with the Army’s Judge Advocate General Corps. “Our contractor clients will benefit…
Word around town is that Joseph Jordan, an associate administrator at the Small Business Administration, has been tapped to replace outgoing Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Dan Gordon. The Office of Management and Budget won’t confirm that Jordan is the nominee for Gordon’s job, which requires Senate confirmation. But Jordan has been named as a senior adviser to Jeff Zients, the federal Chief Performance Officer and OMB’s deputy director for management. Jordan will start advising Zients and his senior staff on policy and procurement matters this month. Jordan did not respond to requests for an interview. Being brought on as a senior…
When it comes to successfully executing major information technology acquisitions, consistent and open dialogue between program officials and stakeholders is key, according to a review of several federal IT programs. The Government Accountability Office report identifies common factors shared by successful IT programs within government: – Program officials are actively engaged with stakeholders. – Program staff has the necessary knowledge and skills. – Senior department and agency executives support the programs. – End users and stakeholders are involved in the development of requirements. – End users participate in testing of system functionality prior to formal end user acceptance testing. – Government and contractor staff are stable…
Nearly two dozen companies were awarded spots on the General Services Administration’s Connections II telecommunications contract, GSA announced last week. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a ceiling of $5 billion and will provide agencies with the products and services to integrate telecommunications and networking. Apptis, Inc., BAE System Information Solutions, Inc., General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. and Science Applications International Corp. were among the 21 companies selected to compete for business on the contract.
A House committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday has been cancelled after agencies that were subpoenaed to testify about their refusal to put senior leadership in charge of their small business contracting activities decided to reorganize instead. On Oct. 20, House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves issued subpoenas to the Treasury, State, Justice and Agriculture departments, requiring their deputy secretaries attend a Nov. 1 hearing to discuss their noncompliance with the federal Small Business Act. The four agencies had previously refused to change the organizational structure of their Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), which, according to the federal Small Business Act, is supposed…
House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves today issued subpoenas to four federal agencies seeking answers for why they refuse to put senior leadership in charge of small business contracting activities, a committee spokesman said. The Treasury, State, Justice and Agriculture departments have said they believe they are in compliance with the spirit of a law that requires agencies to put their Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization in direct contact with the agency’s secretary or deputy secretary. Each agency is required to have an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) under the Small Business Act to ensure contracts…
Agencies that refuse to put senior leadership in charge of their small business contracting activities, as required by law, will be asked to explain their noncompliance to a House small business subcommittee. The Small Business Act requires each agency to have an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) that ensures contracts are written with small business participation in mind. By law, the director of these offices should report directly to an agency’s secretary or deputy secretary. The Government Accountability Office reported in June that the Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, Justice, State and Treasury departments are not complying with the…
Poor acquisition planning on service contracts has led to late contract awards, cost overruns and insufficient services at four federal agencies, an Aug. 9 Government Accountability Office report shows. Federal regulations require agencies to go through a detailed planning process for all acquisitions so that well-defined requirements, realistic cost estimates and lessons learned from past procurements are in place before an agency seeks proposals from vendors. Looking at the four agencies with the highest obligations on professional, administrative, and management support services — the Health and Human Services Department, Department of Homeland Security, NASA and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — the GAO…
Small business program directors at seven federal agencies have been asked by a House subcommittee to explain why they are sidestepping reporting requirements. The directors of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at the Agriculture, Justice, State, Commerce, Treasury and Interior departments as well as the Social Security Administration were not reporting directly to their agency heads, as required by the Small Business Act, according to a June Government Accountability Office report. The reporting requirement is meant to ensure that OSDBU directors have direct access to their agencies’ top decision makers to advocate for small businesses in…