Mea Culpa On Competitive Sourcing

By Robert Brodsky

One of the chief architects of the metrics behind President Bush's competitive sourcing agenda has apparently had a change of heart.

During the presidential campaign in 2000, Stephan Goldsmith served as chief domestic policy advisor to then-Governor Bush. Goldsmith examined the number of federal officials that would likely be retiring during the next years eight years and suggested that Bush pledge to replace only half of them. The remainder of the positions--which the administration later suggested amounted to 425,000 jobs--would be eliminated through efficiencies and outsourcing.

It didn't turn out that way. Unions vigorously fought back against the job competitions, agencies were never completely on board and over time Congress chipped away at the initiative until it was a shell of its former self. In the end, the administration competed just over 50,000 positions.

Now, in some enlightening comments to John Kamensky on his blog at the IBM Center for Business of Government, Goldsmith explains his evolving thought process toward competitive sourcing -- and offers a warning to those who want to pursue a massive insourcing agenda.

"We had gotten it backwards," he said. "Any goals in reducing the federal workforce should have come only after an examination of the specific activities of the federal government and an analysis of the commercial availability (and suitability) of competitive services. Instead, goals were set in a vacuum, much like the debates about angels dancing on the heads of pins. . . . The pendulum has swung, and now OMB is pushing in the opposite direction. I made a mistake in 2000 when I proposed a percentage reduction in employees to President Bush, and I likewise believe that any arbitrary decision to pursue insourcing is equally ill-advised."