Regulatory Reform | The Contracting Education Academy

May 2, 2018 By cs

Reform panel on track to cut DoD-specific acquisition regs by half

Fourteen months after President Donald Trump ordered all agencies to stand up regulatory reform task forces, the Defense Department is making major progress in weeding out what it views as outdated and unnecessary acquisition rules.

The group of Defense officials charged with examining acquisition rules is one of three subgroups currently operating within DoD as part if its regulatory reform task force.

Its particular charge is to undertake an in-depth scrub of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), decide what is still relevant, and what is slowing the system down for no good reason.

The review is about midway through, and so far, it is on track to reduce the size of the DFARS by about half. The group is made up of representatives from the military services, plus the Pentagon’s office of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/defense-main/2018/04/reform-panel-on-track-to-cut-dod-unique-acquisition-regs-by-half/

January 3, 2018 By cs

‘That’s the worst!’ — Acquisition regulations we love to hate

The sheer number of laws, regulations, and policies that apply to the defense acquisition process is staggering.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which governs how the federal government buys goods and services, is a 2,000-page document. On top of that is the 1,500-page Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), which applies specifically to purchases by the Department of Defense (DoD). In addition to all those regulations are federal statutes and DoD internal policies that govern the acquisition process. For contracting officers, that means determining the applicability of hundreds of regulations, in addition to hundreds of laws and policies, to make a purchase.

Many of these laws, regulations, and policies are outdated, but no one has taken the time to remove or update them. According to a 2017 analysis by Deloitte, over two-thirds of all federal regulations on the books have never been updated since they were created. While each outdated regulation alone may not be a significant problem, in the aggregate those regulations can pose an enormous administrative burden. Many in the defense acquisition workforce have argued that assessing and complying with the large number of regulations slows down the acquisition process, wasting time, money, and energy that could be better spent elsewhere. Additionally, the complexity and cost of compliance creates a barrier to entry for small businesses that may wish to engage in business with DoD but cannot afford the lawyers and compliance officers necessary for the job.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/regulations/2017/12/18/thats-the-worst-acquisition-regulations-we-love-to-hate/

August 31, 2017 By cs

Pentagon run more like a business? It’s been trying for years

Pentagon officials, at the urging of Congress and successive administrations, has been trying for years to operate more like a business to cut costs and operate more efficiently. They have little to show for those efforts, an analysis by Bloomberg Government shows.

Shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, the Defense Business Board, which advises the Pentagon on management from a private-sector perspective, urged that the Department of Defense be run “like a modern business.”

However, getting the military’s massive bureaucracy to behave more like a corporation is harder than it looks, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

Keep reading this article at: https://about.bgov.com/blog/pentagon-run-like-business-trying-years/

August 28, 2017 By cs

The agencies where Trump can most easily shift contracting priorities

More than $400 billion in government contracts are set to expire this year across the largest 19 federal agencies, according to a recent report by big data and analytics firm Govini.

That’s creating significant opportunities at some agencies to reorient federal programs in support of the Trump administration’s priorities, said Matt Hummer, director of analytics at the Arlington, Va.-based firm.

The report, the 2017 Federal Scorecard, is Govini’s annual ranking of government contractors and offers a granular picture of the relationship between agencies and the companies they do business with. It was produced in partnership with Government Executive Media Group.

In addition to providing an overview of contracting activity at each agency, the analysis includes a “reprogramming index” that ranks agencies according to their potential to fund new priorities, based on the number and value of expiring contracts. The key takeaway is that at some agencies with the most politically-charged missions, the administration will be able to significantly redirect agency activities through federal contracts.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/07/agencies-where-trump-can-most-easily-shift-contracting-priorities/139637

August 18, 2017 By cs

DoD acquisition proposals reduce burden, heighten transparency concerns

The Defense Department is prompting Congress to take action on a handful of acquisition issues, mostly aimed at reducing regulations on the system, but some fear the proposals may harm government transparency as well.

DoD has been on a crusade to streamline and unburden the defense acquisition since 2010, when it released its first version of Better Buying Power.

Now that James Mattis has taken over as defense secretary, DoD is doubling down on bettering its business operations and making its processes leaner.

The newest legislative proposals to Congress reflect that philosophy.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/defense/2017/07/dod-acquisition-proposals-reduce-burden-heighten-transparency-concerns/

Fourteen months after President Donald Trump ordered all agencies to stand up regulatory reform task forces, the Defense Department is making major progress in weeding out what it views as outdated and unnecessary acquisition rules.

The sheer number of laws, regulations, and policies that apply to the defense acquisition process is staggering.

Pentagon officials, at the urging of Congress and successive administrations, has been trying for years to operate more like a business to cut costs and operate more efficiently. They have little to show for those efforts, an analysis by Bloomberg Government shows.

More than $400 billion in government contracts are set to expire this year across the largest 19 federal agencies, according to a recent report by big data and analytics firm Govini.

The Defense Department is prompting Congress to take action on a handful of acquisition issues, mostly aimed at reducing regulations on the system, but some fear the proposals may harm government transparency as well.

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