Acquisition
Bill would jail crooks who wrongly get set-aside contracts
The House bill would also require establishing a database of businesses owned by service-disabled veterans and develop criteria to enter the program.
Acquisition
Fake firms rip off SBA set-aside program for $100M
Agencies that award contracts to service-disabled veterans don’t check on whether a company is eligible for the special set-aside and millions are lost, GAO official says.
Acquisition
Gordon gets Senate panel's nod for OFPP
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee chairman seems confident about Daniel Gordon getting the Senate’s approval to the the administator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.
Acquisition
A new way to assess contractors
The Obama administration is giving agencies a new, standardized way to assess contractors’ work on award-fee or cost-reimbursement contracts.
Acquisition
Gordon reiterates Obama's push for transparency
The clock is ticking while the Senate considers Daniel Gordon, President Barack Obama's nominee to be administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. While Obama took several months to choose Gordon and the confirmation process is still ongoing, the administration has been dealing with a range of acquisition challenges and reform efforts.
Acquisition
Acquisition workforce has OFPP nominee's attention
Federal spending has increased by 163 percent since fiscal 2000, while the number of contracting officers hasn’t kept pace.
Acquisition
Contractor database hit from both sides
Did the federal acquisition councils go too far or not far enough in designing a new database for contractors’ past performance and legal compliance? That depends on whom you ask.
Acquisition
Fixed-price contracts increase under stimulus law
The proportion of fixed-price contracts is increasing in the contracts funded under the economic stimulus law, a new report says.
Acquisition
Insourcing can create synergy between missions and personnel
Insourcing is one tool agencies can use to build a strong organization that has its main missions in mind, experts say.
Acquisition
OMB urges performance-based management
Agencies should use performance-based management systems to improve acquisitions practices, according to an OMB memo.
Acquisition
Twenty must-follow contracts
A ranking of the largest and most important contracts set to be released in the coming year.
Acquisition
Federal cost-reimbursement contract overview is a mess, GAO says
It is hard to get a handle on federal cost-reimbursement contracts because of missing documentation and incomplete accounting, says a new GAO report
Acquisition
Insourcing: It's still more with less
It's time to use available commercial technologies and business practices and bring federal acquisition into the 21st century, Bruce Sullivan writes.
Acquisition
A bid for protest sanity
The latest case of a bid protest against a multibillion-dollar award prompted our colleague Nick Wakeman to ask a simple but pertinent question: What gives?
Acquisition
Senators skeptical about Obama acquisition reform plan
The Obama administration expects agencies to save $40 billion by fiscal 2011 through better acquisitions.
Acquisition
OMB says agencies must boost competition in contracting
Civilian agencies must consider new ways to promote more competition in their contracts, the Office of Management and Budget said today.
Acquisition
The good, bad and ugly of bid protests
Some feel that they are about greed, while others blame the government for poor requirements and incomplete debriefings. Tell us what you think.
Acquisition
Government bears brunt of bid-protest criticism
Commenters direct most of their frustration at government officials who they say are doing a poor job of explaining their award decisions.
Acquisition
What's behind the increasing number of bid protests?
The decision by Unisys and General Dynamics to protest the lost TSA contract has this observer scratching his head. Why so many protests?
Acquisition