OMB procurement chief leaving administration

Dan Gordon, the head of the Obama administration's Office of Federal Procurement Policy for the past two years, is leaving his post, the Office of Management and Budget announced Wednesday.

Gordon is slated to become associate dean for government contracts law at the George Washington University Law School.

"On Dan's watch, spending on federal contracting decreased for the first time in more than a dozen years, coming in $80 billion less than it would have had contract spending continued to grow at the same rate as it did under the previous administration," OMB Administrator Jack Lew wrote in a blog post.

Lew credited Gordon with working with the General Services Administration, other federal agencies and private companies to better leverage the government's purchasing power in buying commodities, from office supplies to printing services.

Gordon was a unique choice to serve as the government's top acquisition official. Unlike previous officials, who tended to be academics or procurement attorneys with private sector experience, Gordon spent 17 years before joining OMB at the Government Accountability Office.

He started at the watchdog agency in 1992 as a senior attorney in the procurement law division, adjudicating bid protest decisions between companies that fail to win a contract and the awarding agency. In 1995, Gordon was promoted to assistant general counsel of GAO's legal services division, which provides legal guidance and assistance to Congress. He later rose to become the agency's deputy general counsel.

Stan Soloway, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, an industry group, described Gordon as a thoughtful administrator who will be missed in government.

"While the current federal acquisition community will miss Dan's leadership, we are excited to know that he will be involved in training the next generation of acquisition leaders," Soloway said in a statement.