Contracting News 
Top News
- 5 percent of federal workers to be furloughed Friday
- Congress pressures agencies to speed up office consolidations
- Katherine Archuleta chosen as next OPM director
- Data breach puts DHS workers at risk of identity theft
- DoD chooses interoperability over integration for new e-health record system
- House GOP panel moves on deep budget cuts
- OMB fuels synergy between mobile, open data
- IRS official Lerner: 'I did nothing wrong'
- Accountability breakdown leading factor in DoD sexual assaults
- OMB reworking financial system requirements
- Federal retirement funds temporarily tapped
- VanRoekel to lead OMB management team
- Meet the 2013 Service to America Medal finalists
- Thursday federal headlines - May 23, 2013
Chart: Bid protests 2000-2011
Bid protests of government contracts have been on a steady rise over the past decade.
Chart: Federal acquisition workforce 2000-2010
A look at the increasing size of the acquisition workforce. Data is from the Federal Acquisition Institute.
DoD inks $800M contract with Caterpillar
The Defense Logistics Agency signed the papers with Caterpillar for commercial type construction equipment.
Panel examining flaws in DLA's food-for-troops contract
The Pentagon and the company that supplies U.S. troops in Afghanistan with food and water are locked in a billion-dollar billing dispute that illustrates the flawed management of contracts for battlefield support, according to documents released Thursday by a House oversight subcommittee investigating the arrangement.
First quarter mixed for top defense contractors
Three of the top five U.S. defense vendors — Northrop Grumman Corp., General Dynamics Corp. and Raytheon Co. — had lower sales in the first quarter of 2012, a trend that may continue as the Pentagon cuts its budget, according to a new report from Bloomberg Government.
NIH makes first set of awards under CIO-SP3 GWAC
The agency picks 10 service disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) for its CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC. NIH will make other small business and full-and-open awards in the coming month.
All things AFCEA
Former AFCEA Central Maryland presidents Chuck Taylor and Jerry Schepers will talk about the organization and its activities.
May 21, 2012
ManTech wins $77 million FBI contract
The FBI has awarded ManTech International Corp. a $77 million contract to provide support services for the bureau's Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
Navy takes industry feedback to heart in NGEN RFP
The Navy tried to ensure it properly addressed industry concerns as it developed its final solicitation for the $5.4 billion network contract. Some comments involved cost-reduction. Others related to fairness in competition.
Buying commercial in DoD: 15 years after acquisition reform
During the last Defense drawdown, Congress and the White House pushed the Pentagon to make smarter buying decisions in the hopes that it would save a lot of money. The idea was to have the military buy many products the same way businesses do. A decade and a half later, DoD now spends tens of billions of dollars a year under the commercialized models Congress set up. In a two-part, exclusive report, Federal News Radio examines the debate underway over how well it has worked out.
SBA issues proposed rules for small-biz participation in multiple-award contracts
The Small Business Administration has published proposed regulations in the Federal Register, clarifying how agencies should include small-business contractors in multiple-award contracts.
Man pleads guilty in contracting fraud scheme
A former Army Corps of Engineers employee has pleaded guilty to his role in a $30 million bribery and kickback scheme involving the awarding of government contracts.
Big MACs: Fixed Price Deals Lag
Brian Friel, a federal business intelligence analyst with Bloomberg Government, spoke The Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp, to discuss his new study "Big MACs: Fixed-Price Deals Lag."
NASA kicks off SEWP V planning
The space agency will reach $10 billion in sales in 2012 under the SEWP IV governmentwide acquisition contract. Joanne Woytek said there is a lot of industry interest in the next iteration of the contract.
Small business contracting
Congressman Mick Mulvaney and Coalition for Government Procurement Chairman Bill Gormley will talk the challenges that small businesses face when trying to do business with the government.
May 15, 2012
UK considers overhaul of 2 aircraft carriers
A case in point is Great Britain had planned on buying the catapult-launch version of the F-35. But rising costs and delays caused Defence Secretary Philip Hammond to switch to another version.
Developing your business
Consultants Bill Howard and Bruce Jenkins join host Mark Amtower to talk about networking and how to market your company.
May 14, 2012
GSA hires IBM to run the smart building initiative
Under the one-year contract, Big Blue will develop a system to collect data for the Public Building Service to analyze to find areas to become more energy efficient.
House drops DoD request to change definition of commercial products
The Pentagon says the way it buys certain commercial products has been abused for more than a decade. The Defense Department asked Congress to include new rules for buying commercial-of-a-type products, which are commercial in nature, but the military is the only or largest customer by far. Industry was pleased to see the House Armed Services Committee not include the change in the Defense authorization bill.
Congressional committee considers criminal referral for TSA
House staff report suggests TSA delayed, misled congressional investigators about contents of Texas warehouse that holds security screening equipment.
