David Safavian

Office of Management and Budget
David Safavian
Chief, Office of Federal Procurement Policy

David Safavian had a rough welcome after he was nominated chief of the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Federal Procurement Policy in late 2003. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., placed a hold on his nomination over concerns about the Bush administration's job competition initiative, in which federal employees compete for jobs with the private sector. Safavian says the subject is still a sore spot.

"It's a real challenge because it is such a polarizing issue. For those representing organized labor, it is very black and white," says Safavian, a lawyer who came to OMB from the General Services Administration, where he was chief of staff. "It is very difficult to communicate what is good and bad policy." Previously chief of staff to Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, he also has worked as a lobbyist and consultant for various organizations, including the Embassy of Pakistan, Microsoft and several Native American groups.

So far, Safavian has marked his OFPP term by vigorously pursuing policy that he considers good for taxpayers, even when he is strongly opposed by federal employee unions. In addition to pushing ahead with job competitions, which OMB terms "competitive sourcing," he has argued against the need for post-award audits of purchases of commercial products and in favor of directing more contracts toward firms owned by service-disabled veterans.

He considers his biggest accomplishment so far to be in strategic sourcing, the leveraged buying of goods and services. He directed agencies to start applying the technique to three commodities by October and he expects it to eventually shave 30 percent to 40 percent off the cost of purchases.

Safavian does think about things besides procurement. He spends up to 16 hours a month volunteering as a reserve police officer, patrolling the streets of Washington. "These are people," he says, "who don't have resources we take for granted."