GovernmentExecutive.com

President Bush on Monday announced that he intends to nominate Paul Denett, a veteran contracting official, to become the next federal procurement chief.

If confirmed by the Senate, Denett would take over as head of the Office of Management and Budget's procurement policy office. Robert Burton has been acting administrator of that office since the departure of David Safavian, who resigned abruptly last September and days later was arrested on charges of obstructing justice and making false statements related to his previous role as chief of staff for the General Services Administration.

Denett, vice president of contracting programs at the Arlington, Va.-based management consulting firm ESI International, previously served as a senior procurement executive at the Interior and Treasury departments. His name has been circulating as a possible nominee for months.

COMMENTS

• This guy will be a loser. Bush has never made an appointment yet that would hold a sack of sand. If he would go out and appoint some high school kids to these positions, he would be much better off and so would the American people. I wish Bush would stop embarrassing us and send Rumsfeld home also. He has outlived his usefulness to this country and he needs to take an "early out" but no buy out. Just put him out and save lives in Iraq. Charlie Posted April 17, 2006 9:48 PM
• OFPP just keeps going down, down, down. Having worked with all OFPP Administrators since the office was established in the 1970s, I can tell you that that the people picked for this job have been slipping for years. With the possible exception of Angela Styles, whose tenure as OFPP administrator seemed to take a sudden "about face" after she tangled with Rep. Tom Davis, this job has not attracted anyone of stature in many years. That's too bad. Connie the Contractor Posted April 18, 2006 6:36 PM