News

Agencies didn’t reinvent the wheel on stimulus contracts

Most Recovery Act acquisitions took advantage of pre-existing deals, watchdog finds.

Defense

Panel: Pentagon should freeze hiring, slash management

Defense Business Board also recommends major changes to retirement system.

Defense

Senators express disappointment with DHS strategic review

Committee members chide Homeland Security for lack of implementation details in new report.

Oversight

Report: IT dashboard plagued by outdated data

Watchdog finds website intended to provide near real-time updates on projects’ cost and progress doesn’t have the latest information.

Oversight

Census managers fired for falsifying population counts in Brooklyn

The former supervisors could face criminal charges for misconduct.

Defense

Contractors caught gaming the system avoid punishment

Eight months after GAO finds fraud in the service-disabled veteran-owed small business program, not a single firm has been suspended.

Oversight

Administration cites progress reining in procurement costs

Contract spending increased by 4 percent in fiscal 2009, a considerably lower growth rate than in prior years.

Defense

Defense mandates disclosure of contract bundling

Department also will alert lawmakers to large sole-source task or delivery orders.

Oversight

Obama nominates Clinton budget director to lead OMB

Jacob Lew oversaw a budget surplus during his tenure in the late 1990s.

News

State will turn to contractors for support in Iraq

As the military exits, diplomatic officials will rely increasingly on the private sector, new report suggests.

Oversight

Privatization battle centers on definition of federal employee

Union challenges Air Force program to contract out work performed by nonappropriated government employees.

Oversight

Administration requires subcontractor reporting

Proposed rule also would mandate that agencies post salaries of top contractor executives.

Defense

Beleaguered Defense audit agency crafts new vision for the future

Two years after unfavorable GAO report, new director is attempting a difficult reform.

Oversight

Agencies reduce use of noncompetitive, high-risk contracts

Cost-reimbursement and time-and-materials contracts are on the decline, early fiscal 2010 data shows.

Oversight

Agencies urged to document oil spill costs

OMB guidance does not address process for reimbursement.

Oversight

Senator wants administration to pick up the pace on sole-source rule

Outreach to tribal communities is slowing the process to the consternation of Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Defense

Report finds DHS contracts over budget, behind schedule

GAO examined 15 major acquisition programs with a combined $100 billion in life-cycle costs.

Features

The Power of the Purse

The procurement process has long been used as a lever to influence social policy, but some say favoring contractors who pay higher wages would be going too far.

Defense

Defense aims to use interagency contracts judiciously

Top Pentagon procurement policy official says GSA must provide data to show its Multiple Award Schedule deals are valuable.

Oversight

Agencies must develop business case for interagency contracts

OFPP will issue guidance later this summer requiring them to prove new vehicles make sense.