OFPP News 
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- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- Senator: IRS to pay $70M in employee bonuses
- Furlough song: Laugh or you'll cry
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
- 29-year-old NASA engineer going where no one has gone before
- 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
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.
White House wants to scrap law allowing costly contractor salaries
The Obama administration has called on Congress to cap government-reimbursed contractor compensation at $400,000, a move that the head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy said would save hundreds of millions of dollars. Joe Jordan, the OFPP administrator, said the White House would send proposed legislation to Congress next week.
Inside the Reporter's Notebook: Communication breakdown over FITARA? Lawmaker wants answers from DHS
News and buzz in the acquisition and IT communities that you may have missed this week.
OFPP kicks the strategic-sourcing door wide open
Administrator Joe Jordan said he views the possibilities as everything from new contracts to take advantage of volume discounts to standardizing terms and conditions to save on administrative costs. GSA FAS is reorganizing around 14 strategic sourcing areas.
OFPP tells agencies to get serious about tracking contractor performance
Agencies must meet annual goals between 2013 and 2015 to enter data into the Past Performance Information Retrieval System. Joe Jordan, the administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, said inputting and referring to vendor performance information can reduce risks for agencies.
IRS program, interagency contracting finally removed from High-Risk list
A total of 30 programs, once again, are considered troubled, including two new areas. But, the Government Accountability Office removed the IRS' Business Systems Modernization program after 18 years on the list, and interagency contracting after 8 years.
DoD slow to codify some interagency contracting standards
Despite a big policy push from the administration, some agencies have lagged in implementing guidance dealing with interagency contracting, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office. Still, GAO said the creation of a policy framework by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy had gone a long way toward ameliorating some of the issues that landed interagency contracting on the watchdog agency's high-risk list eight years ago, such as duplication and unclear lines of authority between agencies.
OMB lays out 11 goals to give Section 508 some punch
Steven VanRoekel, the federal chief information officer, and Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Joe Jordan issued a memo detailing a new strategic plan after a recent Justice Department compliance survey found mixed results. This is the fourth memo since 2005 from the Office of Management and Budget trying to get agencies to meet the law's requirements. David Capozzi, executive director of the Access Board, said new 508 regulations could be to OMB for approval this spring.
Federal Drive Interviews -- Jan. 31, 2013
Mort Rosenberg of the Constitution Project details the implications of a recent court ruling on recess appointments by the Obama administration. Cameron Leuthy of Bloomberg Government talks about nine civilian agency programs that look particularly ripe for a little carving. OFPP Administrator Joe Jordan discusses data collection. Al Banghart of Deloitte Consulting LLP discusses why federal agencies and Congress are concerned about the supply chain.
OMB increasing the tempo of strategic sourcing
A new memo from acting OMB Director Jeff Zients to agency leaders codifies an interagency council to oversee the promotion and implementation of bulk buying. Each agency also must name a senior official to oversee their efforts.
Contractors say upsurge in MACs leads to duplication, added costs
The Coalition for Government Procurement has called on senior administration leaders to take more action to combat increasing contract duplication, largely from the spread of multiple-award contracts (MACs). Member companies say they are seeing more duplicated contracts and that has added to their costs, according to a CGP survey.
Acquisition executives figuring out how to deal with budget woes
A Federal News Radio exclusive survey of chief acquisition officers and senior procurement executives showed most are not preparing for budget cuts or sequestration. These acquisition executives also say they are protecting money for training acquisition workers. OFPP Administrator Joe Jordan said his office is helping agencies make better decisions about how and where to spend money.
Q & A with Dan Gordon
Dan Gordon, associate dean for Government Procurement at the George Washington University Law school will discuss a wide range of procurement issues.
October 2, 2012
Despite Mythbusters, poor communication still plagues industry-government relationship
Recognizing longstanding challenges in communication between government and industry, the Obama administration rolled out its Mythbusters initiative to dispel misconceptions around agency-vendor communication. But the guidance has had only limited success. Federal News Radio speaks Steven Grundman, the Lund Fellow for emerging defense challenges at the Atlantic Council, as part of the special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years
Small business contracting goal remains elusive
The Obama administration has pushed agencies to increase contracting opportunities with small business, most notably creating a governmentwide task force to share best practices. Yet the federal government on a whole has continued to miss its 23 percent small business contracting goal. Federal News Radio examines this issue as part of our special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years.
Reducing high-risk contracts yields mixed results
Agencies failed to meet a lofty goal to cut spending on new contracts considered high-risk by 10 percent. But despite the inconclusive results, contracting experts and agency procurement chiefs told Federal News Radio there's more to evaluating the effort to reduce high-risk contracts than the failure to reach the goal. Federal News Radio examines this as part of the special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years.
Administration's strategic sourcing push successfully resonates with agencies
The administration decided to dust off the idea that the government is one big shopper and not 130 medium-sized ones as part of their Campaign to Cut Waste. Federal News Radio examines the issue as part of our special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years.
Improvements to how agencies buy goods, services bear out little fruit
In part 4 of Federal News Radio's special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years, we examine progress the administration has made in the acquisition arena. We rated one initiative as effective (green), three as ineffective (red) and two as more progress needed (yellow). View the details of each initiative through our interactive dashboard.
Agencies cracking down on troubled vendors
The Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee (ISDC) issued its annual report to Congress showing that the use of suspension and debarment increased substantially in 2011 over 2009 and 2010.
OFPP keeping a close eye on struggling acquisition system consolidation
GSA's System for Award Management is finding its footing after a rough start. OFPP Administrator Joe Jordan said he's watching the systems' progress carefully.
