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Commentary: Contract management’s new certainty of uncertainty

As anyone involved in contracting with the federal government is already well aware, this is the age of complete uncertainty.

What are the government’s requirements? What are its priorities? What is its budget? When will it receive its funding? When will solicitations be issued? When will contract awards be made? Once contract awards are completed, will they last? Will the program survive? What will be the effect on existing contracts of changes in budget priorities, funding reallocations, funding stoppages, funding shortages, government shutdowns, stop-gap funding, the administration’s changing or still unknown goals and intent, etc.?

The only sure “knowns” in contracting today are the multitudinous “unknowns.” The once weakly supported notion of wider use of multi-year funding — to provide increased program stability, efficiencies and contract savings — is a distant memory. Such uncertainty was the subject of a recent message to Congress by the Secretary of Defense.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/contract-managements-new-certainty-of-uncertainty-commentary

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Low morale, cut corners just a few of agencies’ contracting woes while Congress debates federal funding

Congress has been criticized for kicking the can down the road when it comes to federal spending, but as the government shutdown clocks ticks closer to midnight — and agencies dust off their contingency plans — some are wondering if that kicked can might be the best option right now.

The continuing resolution currently funding the government expires at 11:59 p.m., April 28. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney said April 21 that the administration did not expect a lapse in appropriations, however “prudence and common sense require routine assessments to be made.”

OMB officials said the agency planned to hold a meeting or conference call a week out from the deadline, “regardless of whether the enactment of appropriations appears imminent.”

This will be the third such call in fiscal 2017. OMB made similar calls in fiscal 2014 and 2016.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/budget/2017/04/budget-woes-stretch-beyond-agency-contracting-office-while-congress-debates-federal-funding/

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Midnight shutdown of federal government avoided

Con­gress has aver­ted a mid­night shut­down.

Budget Book Cover_2016The House of Representatives on Wed­nes­day af­ter­noon, September 30, fol­lowed the Sen­ate’s ex­ample by eas­ily passing a tem­por­ary spend­ing bill, fund­ing the federal gov­ern­ment through Decem­ber 11, 2015.

The stop-gap budget meas­ure passed the Sen­ate by a 78-20 vote.  The budget then cleared the House by 277-151.

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Federal contractors worry that a government shutdown would be a ‘nightmare’

Another government shutdown would be a “nightmare” for the federal contracting community, disrupting business, leaving employees wondering about furloughs and cutting corporate profits, according to area business leaders.

20131112_193738They are looking at the looming Sept. 30 deadline, by which Congress has to pass a spending plan, with a mix of angst and dread, while clinging to hope that a crisis will be averted, several executives said at a conference organized by the Professional Services Council, a trade group.

“There is a lot of concern because it’s completely out of their control,” said Alan Chvotkin, the PSC’s executive vice president and counsel.

While much of the attention to a possible shutdown has been focused on the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who would likely be affected, there would also be a major impact on the contractors who often work alongside their government counterparts and are essential to the daily operations of the federal government.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/09/21/federal-contractors-worried-that-government-shutdown-would-be-a-nightmare/

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After the shutdown, uncertainty still plagues Pentagon

Now that the shutdown has ended, it’s business as usual again in Washington. At the Pentagon, that’s the problem. In a word: uncertainty.

“I know there are no guarantees in life, but we can’t continue to do this to our people, having them live under this cloud of uncertainty,” said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Hagel said that the shutdown harmed everything for the Defense Department from training to the trust of key allies. But instead of waking up Thursday to a normal budget cycle, Pentagon planners instead are right back to where they started before the shutdown — under the budgetary thumb of sequester and continuing resolutions that temporarily fund the government weeks or months at a time.

Hagel said he is now worried about the morale of the military and its civilian workforce.

“Morale is a huge part of this,” Hagel said. “We won’t be able to recruit good people. Good people will leave the government. They’re not going to put up with this. Good people have many options.” Hagel said he is now worried about the morale of the military and its civilian workforce.

“Morale is a huge part of this,” Hagel said. “We won’t be able to recruit good people. Good people will leave the government. They’re not going to put up with this. Good people have many options.”

Bob Hale, Pentagon comptroller, was blunter as usual.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2013/10/after-shutdown-uncertainty-still-plagues-pentagon/72158.

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