Acquisition Policy

  • Aerospace is about as international an industry as you can find. Yet the U.S. is a large exporter of aerospace products, and industry produces a multi-billion dollar trade surplus. No wonder aerospace executives are happy that the Export-Import Bank is re-authorized and has the backing of the Trump administration. David Melcher, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, shames more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

    May 03, 2017
  • Dave McClure, a former Government Accountability Office and General Services Administration executive and now chief strategist for Coalfire, said the company studied the six-year-old program and found costs, usage and time to get through the process are much better than the general perception.

    May 03, 2017
  • Contractors, no less than federal employees, can relax now that Congress and the administration managed to keep the government open for business. Luckily some processes didn't hesitate. Such as a training session for contractors recently staged by the General Services Administration. Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners, shares the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

    May 02, 2017
  • As agencies begin to implement the EO over the next eight months, the potential elimination of various carve-outs is going to be the most interesting thing to watch — and the thing that most worries the folks who pay close attention to Defense technology procurement.

    May 02, 2017
  • How do you map out a winning proposal while improving win-rates and lowering proposal costs? Find out this week on Amtower Off Center when host Mark Amtower interviews proposal guru Carl Dickson. May 1, 2017

    April 30, 2017
  • Nearly a third of federal contract spending or around $130 billion a year goes through indefinite delivery - indefinite quantity contracts (IDIQ). It's a surprisingly durable practice. But the product mix has shifted and not all the buying is competitive. Bill Woods, Director of IT acquisition and sourcing management issues at the Government Accountability Office, provides an update on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

    April 28, 2017
  • House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry won't give details on what reforms he will propose, but says he thinks DoD might get more money than expected in 2017 defense appropriations.

    April 27, 2017
  • When incumbent services contractors see a recompetition coming, it often sets off their "spidey sense." But there are limits to how much a contractor can control the solicitation put out by the agency for which it's working. Procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo of Petrillo and Powell shares a recent case in point on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

    April 27, 2017
  • After years of steady declines, spending on contracts by the armed forces and Defense agencies are heading back up. Andrew Hunter, director of the defense-industrial initiatives group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more.

    April 26, 2017
  • BirchGrove Consulting President Ray Bjorklund joins host Roger Waldron on this week's Off the Shelf to discuss government's category management efforts and the size, scope and complexity of the 750 billion dollar procurement market. April 18, 2017

    April 21, 2017
  • The Defense Department won't have any problems spending money if Congress can pass a budget next week.

    April 21, 2017
  • Roger Waldron, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, applauds the Trump administration's intent but questions its approach to reigning in contract duplication.

    April 21, 2017
  • The Defense Innovation Unit Experimental is still awarding contracts despite months of uncertainty.

    April 20, 2017
  • Each of the last three administrations has deployed a strategy for IT acquisition. Former Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Angela Styles, chairwoman of the law firm Crowell Moring, joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin on what the next challenges might be.

    April 19, 2017