Congress | The Contracting Education Academy

February 14, 2020 By cs

A call to inaction on Defense acquisition law

The best thing Congress could do for a while is stop passing new legislation.

All of the defense-acquisition-reform legislation passed in recent years by Congress has been well-intentioned; some of it has also been helpful.

Various rapid acquisition and Other Transaction Authorities have helped speed new capabilities to the field. Other changes have helped protect the national security innovation base, shoring up the process by which the Treasury Department reviews foreign investments in U.S. manufacturers, countering Huawei’s dangers, and urging DoD to protect its supply chains. Still other provisions have usefully encouraged more commercial practices in DoD.

But too much recent legislation is burdensome beyond its benefits. The FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, contains over 3,400 pages of law and explanation of law. This act contains no provision as helpful as those listed above, and even repeals an earlier waiver authority designed to promote flexibility. It requires extensive reporting on costs and then directs GAO to do a report on these reports. It contains 77 provisions dedicated to acquisition policy – the third-highest number in 15 years. And yet the FY 2020 NDAA is hardly a recent outlier. On average, each of the last five NDAAs contained 79 acquisition provisions, up from an average of 47 over the decade before that.

It’s time for Congress to take a strategic pause in defense acquisition reform; in Hippocratic terms, to do no harm for a year or two.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/defense/2020/01/call-inaction-defense-acquisition-law/162662/

January 13, 2020 By cs

3 must-read acquisition provisions in the 2020 NDAA

After a long Congressional conference period the 2020 Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was finally signed into law, and with it come some changes to the defense acquisition process.

Federal News Network compiled three provisions that are particularly interesting regarding the procurement of military weapons.

These provisions involve intellectual property, middle-tier acquisition, and the establishment of a Defense Civilian Training Corps, and are summarized here:

The 2020 NDAA gives DoD more leeway in experimenting with that policy by creating a pilot program on intellectual property evaluation.
The middle-tier acquisition method allows for rapid prototyping and fielding within five years, as long as certain criteria are met.
The Defense Civilian Training Corps will train civilians for public service in the Department of Defense.

Read the complete Federal News Network article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2019/12/three-must-read-acquisition-provisions-in-the-2020-ndaa/

January 7, 2020 By cs

DoD releases long awaited policy on mid-tier acquisition

After three years and a serious reprimand from Congress, the Defense Department finally released its guidance for the processes governing middle-tier acquisition.

***Click on image above to download document.***

The Dec. 30, 2019 instruction, signed by defense acquisition and sustainment undersecretary Ellen Lord, gives DoD agencies direction for when and how to use middle-tier acquisition, and explains leadership responsibilities for the contracting method.

The DoD guidance, at least temporarily, allays concerns from Congress and the Government Accountability Office about unclear oversight of middle-tier acquisition.

The document doesn’t really tell readers much more than is already known about the process, but rather codifies the way DoD uses it, and then leaves a large part of the way the method is used up to the individual defense agencies.

DoD explains that the Defense Acquisition University will create a companion guide in the near future to expand upon the guidance.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2020/01/dod-releases-long-awaited-policy-on-mid-tier-acquisition/

November 4, 2019 By cs

Is Congress in the dark on supply chain risk?

Top senators on the Senate Homeland Security Committee have warned the Office of Management and Budget that IT professionals in Congress and the federal judiciary may not be getting all the supply chain risk information they need to secure their computer systems and networks as they make acquisitions.

The senators wrote to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney ″urging” the Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC) to develop a strategic plan for sharing supply chain security information with Congress and the judiciary. The letter is signed by Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wisc.; Ranking Member Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

The FASC is responsible for increasing information sharing within the federal government regarding supply chain risk and creating guidelines and practices for risk management. The FASC distributes the intelligence community’s supply change risk management (SCRM) threat analysis to federal civilian agencies making acquisitions decisions. But the senators said that the information from FASC is not reaching the other two branches of government and supply chain solutions that work for executive agencies don’t necessarily work for the “whole of government.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fifthdomain.com/civilian/omb/2019/10/11/is-congress-in-the-dark-on-supply-chain-risk/

October 28, 2019 By cs

Congress mulls spring continuing resolution to avoid government shutdown

With impeachment proceedings looming and budget talks stalling, Congress will likely need a stopgap spending measure for February or March, the Senate’s top appropriator said last Thursday.

A continuing resolution, or CR, would avoid a government shutdown when the last funding patch expires Nov. 21, just before Congress takes its Thanksgiving recess.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said that if the House passes a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump, it will indefinitely dominate the the Senate’s business, forestalling budget talks.

“It takes a lot of oxygen out of the air, and some business is transacted, but it will slow everything down,” Shelby told reporters, adding that a continuing resolution could be needed into February or March.

The Senate last week voted to advance the a package of fiscal 2020 domestic spending bills passed by the House, which would include nearly one-third of all nondefense discretionary spending. The Senate is set to resume consideration of the package today.

That package excludes Department of Defense appropriations, which has been snagged in a fight over border wall funding. Democrats are likely to withhold support for defense spending until a larger spending deal is reached.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/10/25/congress-mulls-spring-cr-to-avoid-government-shutdown/

The best thing Congress could do for a while is stop passing new legislation.

After a long Congressional conference period the 2020 Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was finally signed into law, and with it come some changes to the defense acquisition process.

After three years and a serious reprimand from Congress, the Defense Department finally released its guidance for the processes governing middle-tier acquisition.

With impeachment proceedings looming and budget talks stalling, Congress will likely need a stopgap spending measure for February or March, the Senate’s top appropriator said last Thursday.

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