Government Accountability Office
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The Government Accountability Office is refining the concept of reasonable determination in government contracting. A recent bid protest decision added new complexity to this term and will impact the growing trend of mergers and acquisitions in the federal contractor community. Federal News Radio’s Executive Editor Jason Miller writes about GAO’s decision in this week's edition of Inside the Reporter’s Notebook. He joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss it.
September 09, 2015 -
The DoD is calling for 25 percent reductions for appropriations funding across the department. Defense already had proposed 20 percent cuts, while Congress is considering as much as a 30 percent reduction in funding.
September 08, 2015 -
Sexual misconduct, bribery and cheating are popping up on the Defense Department's ethics radar screen. A lack of accountability because of unclear guidance is one possible cause, according to the Government Accountability Office. Brenda Farrell, GAO's director of defense capabilities and management issues, fills in the details on In Depth with Francis Rose.
September 08, 2015 -
GAO says contracting officers should make a new determination of responsibility if a company is sold while bidding on a contract.
September 08, 2015 -
The Government Accountability Office has revisited the weapon system acquisition programs at the Defense Department, only to find that many of its recommendations haven't been hold yet.
September 04, 2015 -
The weapon system acquisition programs at the Defense Department combine for a total estimated cost of over $1.4 trillion. About seven years ago, the Government Accountability Office recommended a departmentwide portfolio management approach for those investments. Today, GAO said that system could use some improvement. Mike Sullivan, director of acquisition and sourcing management issues at GAO, tells In Depth with Francis Rose what policy issues need to be addressed.
September 02, 2015 -
Procurement protests get a bad rep for taking long to sort out minor details. GAO's Ralph White says that's far from true. He debunks some common procurement myths.
August 28, 2015 -
Perception isn't reality for bid protests in the federal government. Some perceptions — like there are more protests than ever — are more chatter than they are real. Ralph White is managing associate general counsel for procurement law at the Government Accountability Office. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose the idea that there are more protests than ever isn't supported by the numbers.
August 27, 2015 -
The Department of Defense has been working on guidelines to help its contracting officers decide whether potential noncompetitive contracts are worth their advertised prices. The new guidelines address different ways agencies can tackle situations where they don't have information available to them.
August 26, 2015 -
The Defense Department is working on new training and guidance to help its contracting officers decide whether potential contracts are worth the price. The Government Accountability Office sampled 32 commercial contracts. DOD contracting officials asked for cost, pricing and other information to help them determine if contracts were reasonably priced for 12 of them. Bill Woods is director of acquisition and sourcing management issues at GAO. He said it's too early to say whether the Pentagon's training and guidance is working, but he tells In Depth with Francis Rose that contracting officers DO have some challenges.
August 24, 2015 -
Congress will keep a close eye on whether the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act works for agencies as planned. Agencies were supposed to hand in their plans for implementing FITARA last week. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee says it might consider giving agencies report cards to measure how well they stick to those plans. Dave Powner, director of information technology management issues at the Government Accountability Office, tells In Depth with Francis Rose why grades are a good idea and should push agencies to perform better.
August 20, 2015 -
The Federal Aviation Administration is making progress in its efforts to integrate unmanned aerial system flights into the national airspace. That's according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 directed the agency to safely integrate flights by aircraft without an onboard pilot that operate on pre-programmed routes or are remotely controlled. Gerald Dillingham is the director of physical infrastructure issues at GAO. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the report and FAA's drone progress.
August 19, 2015 -
The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments are a long way from deploying new electronic health record systems that can communicate with each other. Both agencies didn't meet a deadline last year to make sure their data complies with national standards. Valerie Melvin is director of information management and technology resources issues at GAO. She tells In Depth with Francis Rose why defined goals would help both departments better measure their progress.
August 18, 2015 -
Federal contracting officers don't bargain hard enough, and aren't getting the best deals for the government. That's according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. And government buyers often don't seen enough competitive bids for products or services, even though it's generally required by law and regulation. Bill Woods is the Director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management Issues at GAO. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the report.
August 12, 2015 -
Agencies are under an Aug. 15 deadline to describe how they’ll implement the a key part of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. As part of a forthcoming FITARA dashboard, OMB wants to broadcast those plans as widely as possible.
August 12, 2015