On Thursday night, Dan Gordon commented on the need to “redefine” the relationship between the federal government and its contractors. Mr. Gordon was recently appointed by the Obama administration to head the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), the federal government’s procurement policy maker.
Mr. Gordon said that over the past 15-20 years, contractors have become critical to the functioning of the government and, as a result, they now have unprecedented influence on the formation and performance of government contracts. Without going into detail, Mr. Gordon said it would be a priority of his tenure to reassert the government’s control of the contracting process.
Mr. Gordon also outlined his three priorities for acquisition reform:
1. Rebuilding the acquisition workforce – Now outnumbered by a growing contractor workforce, the government acquisition workforce is in need of additional manpower and training. Mr. Gordon said he was pleased by the Obama Administration’s $150 million FY 2011 budget request for acquisition workforce development, Mr. Gordon’s chief priority at OFPP.
2. Fiscal restraint – Citing the Administration’s recent call to “freeze” discretionary spending, Mr. Gordon said that his office would work to curb the use of cost-reimbursement type contracts and other contracting practices that place performance risk on the government. Mr. Gordon noted, however, that cost-reimbursement contracts are necessary under certain circumstances and may result in cost savings. This blog discussed the issue in a previous post.
3. Changing the government-contractor relationship – As discussed above, Mr. Gordon explained that the dynamic between the government and contractors has shifted in recent years. Mr. Gordon said that it is time for the government to reassert its dominant role by, for instance, limiting the use of sole source contracts and “in-sourcing” certain inherently governmental functions.
Administrator Gordon made his comments at a celebration commemorating the 50th Anniversary of George Washington University Law School’s Government Procurement Law Program.