86'ing A-76

Brian Friel, a reporter from our sister publication National Journal, is covering a House Budget Committee hearing where Robert Hale, DoD comptroller is testifying. Friel says that House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt asked Hale why DoD’s costs have gone up so much higher than the rate of inflation over the past decade. Hale said one of the reasons is that jobs that have been outsourced to contractors have been more expensive than in-house personnel were. To get costs under control, Hale said the Pentagon will look at converting contractors back to government personnel. We “need to look carefully at how many contractors we’re using,” Hale said.

This is a pretty cut and dry statement from the comptroller. Unions have long claimed that outsourcing costs the government more, while contractor associations have disputed this. It's increasingly looking like there will be more than a suspension of Circular A-76, there may very well be a significant reversal.