Procurement nominee stresses importance of building acquisition workforce

President Obama's nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Federal Procurement Policy outlined a conservative but broad list of priorities at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

The former career employee at the Government Accountability Office told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that, if confirmed, he would focus on expanding the size and improving the training of the acquisition workforce, finding ways to save money and reduce risk in acquisitions, advancing procurement planning and strengthening contract management.

Much of Daniel Gordon's testimony centered on the acquisition workforce and the impact of multiple award contracts on federal procurement. The nominee said increasing the size of the workforce and improving its training will be crucial to addressing many of the challenges OFPP faces in the future, such as addressing over-reliance on noncompetitive contracts, misuse of interagency contract vehicles, poor requirements planning and insufficient oversight of contractors.

Gordon mentioned several specific acquisition functions that need beefing up, including those related to requirements development and cost and price estimation. Contracting officer technical representatives also must be better trained, "because of their importance to good contract management," he wrote in his pre-hearing questionnaire.

"We need to focus our attention on developing an acquisition workforce -- including contracting officers' technical representatives and program managers, as well as contracting officers and contract specialists -- that allows us to meet our mission goals and deliver to the public," Gordon said. "If confirmed, I will strengthen our commitment to their development and training, and ensure they have the knowledge and tools necessary to excel."

Many of the questions that Gordon faced, in the pre-hearing questionnaire and during the actual hearing, addressed the issue of multiple award contracts. In the questionnaire, the committee cited the Acquisition Advisory Panel's conclusions that the proliferation of multiagency contracts, multiple award contracts and indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contracts could "dampen the government's ability to leverage its buying power." The panel also noted, however, that some competition among the interagency contract vehicles is healthy. Gordon said he recognized this conflict and would review the panel's recommendations carefully.

"I am concerned about the waste of resources, on the part of both the government and the private sector contractors, associated with duplicative contracts for the same goods and services," he said. "Agencies [that] develop and manage these umbrella contracts need to make a clear case for the value added in establishing a new interagency contract."

Despite being a 20-plus-year veteran of the federal procurement world, Gordon punted on many questions the committee posed. He promised, if confirmed, to look into issues such as increasing transparency at the subcontractor level, the accuracy of Recovery Act job creation numbers and the development of a Contingency Contracting Corps, but he declined to provide more concrete answers on these issues and several others.

Gordon's play-it-safe strategy in the hearing might pay off, given his respected reputation in the contracting world. "I hope I don't jinx your nomination by saying it is my experience in this committee that you are a most broadly supported, uncontroversial nomination," Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., said. The committee chairman called Gordon "an extremely intelligent, thoughtful lawyer who views acquisition as not just negotiating the four corners of a contract."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, also lauded Gordon's experience, which ranges from litigating and adjudicating bid protests to teaching federal procurement policy at The George Washington University Law School.