Senate confirms veteran procurement official for OMB post

In a rush of activity during its last business day before the August recess, the Senate on Friday unanimously confirmed Paul Denett as administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

Denett will begin in his new post as soon as President Bush signs off on his confirmation, an OMB spokeswoman said. Denett has been serving since June as counselor to OMB's deputy director for management, Clay Johnson.

OMB Director Rob Portman welcomed Denett's confirmation. "His integrity, extensive knowledge of government acquisition and grant management issues, and policy expertise will guide us in providing effective leadership in shaping governmentwide procurement regulations and in developing the acquisition workforce," Portman said.

Denett was nominated for the post in April, months after his name began circulating in the procurement community, and he was received warmly by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during his June confirmation hearing.

At that hearing Denett said he would focus on helping agencies with the frequently cited challenges of boosting training and hiring of acquisition workers. He said he would aim to improve agencies' planning, operations and transparency in emergency contracting, an area that has been under scrutiny as fraudulent and abusive contracts have come to light in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The nominee also said he would support transparency and tracking of results for the administration's controversial efforts to consider shifting government work to the private sector through public-private job competitions.

Robert Burton, OMB's associate administrator for the procurement policy shop, has been serving as administrator in an acting capacity since David Safavian stepped down from that role last September, days before his arrest in connection with investigations into lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Burton will relinquish the acting title when Denett takes on his new job.

Before June, Denett was vice president of contracting programs at management consulting firm ESI International in Arlington, Va. He retired from the Senior Executive Service after serving as director of administration and senior procurement executive at the Interior Department, and was vice chairman of the Procurement Executives Council, now known as the Federal Acquisition Council, according to biographical information from OMB.

Denett also worked in procurement at the Treasury, Interior and Agriculture departments and with the Army and Navy during more than 30 years of government work, according to documents submitted to the Senate.

Denett won a presidential rank award while at the Interior Department. His wife Lucy Querques Denett is a career federal employee with Interior, currently serving as associate director for minerals revenue management at the Minerals Management Service, and she, too, has won the presidential rank award. Denett has two adult children.