GSA News 
Top News
- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- Senator: IRS to pay $70M in employee bonuses
- Furlough song: Laugh or you'll cry
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- Does security clearance process need a makeover?
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
- NASA engineer, 29, recognized for improving aeronautical testing
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
- NOAA meteorologist helps save lives one storm at a time
- NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women
- House passes sweeping $638 billion defense bill
- NIH tops list of best companies for baby boomers
- Latest postal reform proposal OKs 5-day delivery
- Wednesday federal headlines - June 19, 2013
Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee members support Dan Tangherlini to be the permanent administrator of the General Services Administration. Lawmakers, however, wanted more answers about the troubled SAM program and the recent IG report on management interference of contract negotiations.
GSA to review all internal contracting practices after latest IG report
The review comes in the wake of the agency's recent inspector general report that revealed management interference on schedule contract negotiations. Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini said the review will ensure the agency's contracting work is "performed with transparency and honesty."
Lawmakers, industry press OFPP not to make strategic sourcing mandatory
The House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and the Workforce is searching for answers about the potential impact on competition if the White House mandates the use of strategic sourcing contracts. Four industry associations provided little support for compulsory use, citing potential risks to the government and harm to vendors.
GSA's Rung to lead Office of Governmentwide Policy
Anne Rung will take over for Kathleen Turco and continue to be the agency's chief acquisition officer.
The keys to a successful procurement
Dave Mader, senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, talks acquisition and procurement with host Roger Waldron.
June 11, 2013
Inside the Reporter's Notebook: Some question who's in charge at GSA with six feds on admin leave
Industry experts say GSA is looking for scapegoats for the problems outlined in two recent inspector general reports, instead of stepping back and understanding the real issues auditors raised.
GSA IG report blasts FAS managers for altering contracts
A new GSA inspector general report criticizes Federal Acquisition Service managers for altering contracts at the request of contractors and against the wishes of FAS staff and the IG himself.
GSA, Trump release plans for Old Post Office Building
After more than a year of negotiations, the General Services Administration and business magnate Donald Trump's organization have inked a deal to redevelop Washington, D.C.'s historic Old Post Office Building into a luxury hotel. Now it's up to Congress, which has 30 days to review the agreement, to finalize the deal.
All things SmartPay
David Shea, director of GSA's Office of Charge Card Management, gives us an update on the agency's SmartPay program.
June 3, 2013
GSA's Turco moving to VHA
Kathleen Turco is leaving GSA after 11 years, including the last three as the associate administrator of governmentwide policy. She will become the CFO at the Veterans Health Administration.
GSA proposes vendors must e-sign modifications to schedule contracts
A proposed rule in the Federal Register would require all 19,000 Federal Supply Schedule holders to get a digital certificate to use the new electronic modification system.
Inside the Reporter's Notebook: Reverse auctions for IT; DHS' answers not satisfying; Contractor salary cap proposal returns
News and buzz in the acquisition and IT communities that you may have missed this week.
An update on the GSA's Schedules Program
Carolyn Alston, executive vice president and general counsel for the Coalition for Government Procurement will talk about GSA schedules and a recent conference that looked at a number of key acquisition issues.
May 28, 2013
New mobile tools give agencies ‘giant innovation permission slip'
On the one-year anniversary of the Digital Government Strategy, the Office of Management and Budget highlighted the progress being made to make agency information and systems device-agnostic. Federal CIO Steve VanRoekel said mobile is the new default platform.
Congress pressures agencies to speed up office consolidations
Members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management want to know why the NRC spent millions of dollars to renovate office space it may never use. DHS and HHS were praised by the committee for their approach to consolidating office space.
Obama to nominate Tangherlini as GSA administrator
President Barack Obama will nominate Dan Tangherlini, the acting administrator of the General Services Administration, to officially fill that position. Tangherlini stepped into that post amid the April 2012 conference spending scandal at the agency.
FedRAMP achieves another cloud security milestone
HHS approves Amazon Web Services for meeting security requirements under the Federal Risk Authorization Management Program. The company's secure documents are available for other agencies to review to help accelerate their move to the cloud.
OMB reworking financial system requirements to focus on outcomes, not inputs
The administration is expected to release a new directive in the coming weeks to update Circular A-127, which defines how agencies operate their financial systems. The new guidance is expected to open the market up to vendors and make it easier for agencies to transition to shared service providers.
Q&A with Larry Allen
Larry Allen of Allen Federal Business Partners, joins host Mark Amtower to talk about how sequestration and other issues are affecting contractors.
May 20, 2013
Bonuses to senior execs under fire at GSA, other agencies
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and the GSA inspector general released separate, but related, reports that show GSA abused its authority to give Senior Executive Service (SES) members bonuses between 2009 and 2011. GSA official said they have since fixed these problems. McCaskill also found that on average the Labor Department, the Navy and the National Science Foundation handed out more than one bonus per SES employee.
