Homeland Security standardizes acquisition policy

The Department of Homeland Security issued an interim rule Thursday requiring all agencies and contracting agents within the department to abide by a uniform code when buying goods and services.

The sweeping rule is intended to immediately establish a departmentwide acquisition policy for agencies that previously used different contracting vehicles, some of which no longer apply, DHS officials said in announcing the rule in the Federal Register.

"This regulation realigns contracting authority within the department and provides uniform regulatory guidance for the acquisition of supplies and services required to accomplish DHS's mission of preventing and reducing terrorist attacks as well as minimizing damage and assisting in recovery from terrorist attacks," the notice said.

All agencies except the Transportation Security Administration must comply with the rule within 30 days. TSA was granted its own contracting authority under the 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act. Homeland Security is accepting comments on the new rule until Jan. 5, after which the department will issue a final rule. A DHS spokesperson did not return phone calls for comment Thursday.

Dan Guttman, an attorney and fellow with the National Academy of Public Administration who has devoted his life to investigating government contracts, said the new rule presents an opportunity to coordinate homeland security contracting, but could also be abused.

One of the problems Guttman worries about is giving large, private companies contracts that affect multiple agencies and projects, but with limited oversight and accountability. For example, he cited a TSA contract granted to NCS Pearson in 2002 to hire passenger and baggage airport screeners that experienced performance problems and cost overruns.

"The basic question to me is does the government have the ability to do oversight," he said. "The obvious question is, while these rules are nice, does the official workforce have the expertise and experience to supervise and evaluate, and how do we know?"

Homeland Security includes 22 agencies that existed before the formation of the department. Prior to DHS, those agencies followed acquisition regulations under other departments when conducting procurement functions. For example, the Coast Guard used Transportation Department acquisition regulations. Similarly, organizations that used the Treasury or Justice Department acquisition policies can no longer rely on those regulations.

Guttman said another problem with the new acquisition rule is that it might remove some contracting professionals in a given agency from working on contracts, even though they understand the culture and processes of their agency.

"The real key is the ability for the civil service contacting agents to have oversight of potential mismanagement," he said. "How do we know that an appropriate balance is going to be struck?"