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OMB contracting guidance expected to be released this week

By Elizabeth Newell enewell@govexec.com October 26, 2009

Contracting guidance that the Office of Management and Budget is developing likely will be released within the next few days, sources told Government Executive on Monday.

The Senate's contracting oversight subcommittee is holding a hearing on Wednesday to review the Obama administration's strategy for reforming government contracting. A subcommittee spokeswoman said members expect the report to be released in advance of the hearing, and an OMB official confirmed on background that the guidance will be released soon.

"Obviously, the subcommittee has been eagerly awaiting this report, so they will be anxious to talk with OMB's [Deputy Director for Management] Jeffrey Zients and give him their feedback on the administration's plan, including any critiques they may have," the spokeswoman said.

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In March, Obama directed OMB to work with agencies to reform multiple areas of federal acquisition, including competition, the appropriate use of contract types, outsourcing and the workforce. The agency also issued memos to guide agencies in managing and creating processes for the ongoing review of existing contracts to identify those deemed wasteful, inefficient or irrelevant.

In July, OMB released an initial round of guidance that covered general ways to improve acquisition processes, make better use of information related to contractors' past performance and balance the blended contractor and federal workforce. The acquisition practices memo, signed by OMB director Peter R. Orszag, directed agencies to develop a plan to save 7 percent on contract spending by the end of fiscal 2011.

The OMB official said the July guidance covered "90 percent of the president's charge from his March memo," and the new material will supplement that information. Contracting specialists have been anticipating in particular guidance on the definition of "inherently governmental" work, or work barred from outsourcing.

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  • Watch the knee jerk reaction --- abandon T&M contracts in favor of FFP contracts even when FFP is inappropriate and will cost the government more. The problem with T&M contracts is not that they are inheriently flawed, it is that COs and PMs do not know how to oversee them. There will now be FFP contracts with no deliverables to provide support staff. If someone quits, the government pays the same price while it clears the replacement. The focus should be selecting the right contract type for the right situation. George Posted October 27, 2009 2:26 PM
  • Maybe Obama should actually nominate a head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy first. This is not only putting the cart before the horse, this is doing so when the driver of the cart is nowhere to be seen. Maybe the administration should concentrate on raising the Davis-Bacon and SCA thresholds that haven't been raised in decades - that would be one way to keep contract costs down - but of course that won't happen because it would annoy the unions who so strongly supported Obama. JoeFed Posted October 27, 2009 9:52 AM
  • This Administration has an opportunity to end the self interested screaming over outsourcing. First, it can step back from its ideological insourcing that is now being pursued without regard to cost or performance. Second, it can actively re-engage full, open and trasparant competition for commercial work. And third, it can stop pandering to union desires to expand inherently governmental and core protections to their members. DDM Jefff Zients will either improve Federal management in the interest of the taxpayer or, in his first year, be dismissed as just another political appointee. Larry Posted October 27, 2009 8:08 AM
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