Talking It Out

The Obama administration let White House pool reporters sit in on the breakout sessions at the fiscal summit yesterday, and the reporters, especially Jon Ward, the Washington Times writer assigned to the procurement breakout session, came away with some interesting tidbits on how lawmakers from both parties view the fiscal challenges facing government. In the procurement session, Ward wrote, lawmakers returned repeatedly to the workforce issues involved.

Susan Collins, the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, cited the large number of procurement workers who are retiring. “It all comes down to an insufficient number of procurement officials," she said.

Joe Lieberman, who chairs the committee, said of agencies, “It is obvious that they're not following that law,” against contracting out inherently governmental functions in services contracts. Claire McCaskill, who will be chairing a subcommittee on procurement, said "it's stupid" that it's easier to hire contractors at the Department of Homeland Security than it is to bring in less expensive federal employees. And Darrell Issa, the new ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the federal government should be paying premiums to federal employees who stay beyond retirement age.

All of these issues are going to be big this year, so it's great to get a preview of where key lawmakers stand, at least on how hiring and pay ought to work. I just wish Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security Secretary, hadn't started the breakout session by warning that it might be dry. She shouldn't downplay these issues--they're vital, and they'll get more attention if she calls attention to them without denigrating them.