Treasury Dept. | The Contracting Education Academy

March 20, 2015 By AMK

Inspectors general feud over VA official’s alleged contract steering

Two federal watchdogs are feuding over the legitimacy of a scathing report last year on questionable contracts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, causing a rare rift between government accountability offices.

Treasury Department Inspector General Eric Thorson issued a letter to House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) last week contesting findings of misconduct by former VA procurement officer Iris Cooper, now a top contracting official with Treasury.

A report last year from VA Inspector General Richard Griffin accused Cooper of steering $15 million in contracts to a friend’s company and ensuring that the deals would be non-competitive. It also alleged that she showed a “lack of candor” with investigators.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/03/16/inspectors-general-feud-over-va-officials-alleged-contract-steering/

March 12, 2015 By AMK

Government spent less on contracts in 2014 than it did the previous year

Federal spending on government contracts decreased in 2014, with the Defense Department seeing the biggest overall decline, according to a March 3 report from Govini, a business consulting company for government contractors.

Govini, each year, releases a federal scorecard that tallies and analyzes data on federal contract spending and agency performance.

The scorecard, which was released to reporters, shows that overall contract spending from the federal government was down 4 percent in 2014 compared to 2013.

The DoD saw the greatest overall decrease in dollars spent, with a nearly $9 billion year-over-year decrease in both the Navy and Army.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/report-government-spent-less-contracts-2014-it-did-previous-year/2015-03-05

December 26, 2014 By AMK

IG says VA official inappropriately steered contracts before moving to Treasury

A former top procurement official at the Department of Veterans Affairs — who now holds a similar position at the Treasury Department — steered contracts to a company with which she had a personal relationship, according to a watchdog report.

In concert with a VA colleague, Iris Cooper “preselected” the company, Tridec Technologies, then divided the work up into separate, smaller contracts that stayed below a threshold that allowed them to be awarded without competition, according to the agency’s Inspector General. In all, the Ohio-based company won more than $15 million in work since 2009 to help build an online acquisitions site

The IG’s report is the second in recent months to accuse a top-ranking VA acquisitions official of improperly steering contracts. In September, the IG said that another VA contracting officer sought to improperly benefit Vienna-based FedBid. She resigned after the report became public.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/12/18/report-va-official-inappropriately-steered-contracts-before-moving-to-treasury/

October 15, 2014 By AMK

Feds buy back USASpending website after contractor bankruptcy

The government procured its own spending transparency website and the primary data system behind it on the same day last month the contract to manage the systems was set to expire, new documents show.

The move frees up previously contested federal contracting data, which will facilitate increased competition for future contracts, according to outside observers and the General Services Administration.

It’s unclear if the purchase became necessary to keep the site running or if the opportunity arose as a result of Global Computer Enterprises, Inc.’s financial instability, which led to a bankruptcy filing last month.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/big-data/2014/10/feds-buy-back-usaspending-website-after-contractor-bankruptcy/96251/

May 1, 2014 By AMK

7 agencies where contract spending sped up despite the sequester

Overall, the federal government’s spending on contracts was down 11 percent last year, Bloomberg reported April 22, 2014.

The sequester, other budget cuts, and the drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan took a toll on spending at 12 of 19 major agencies, with Defense Department spending down nearly 15 percent over fiscal 2012 and business with the U.S. Agency for International Development down 17 percent.

But seven departments managed to buck the general downward trend. They are:

1) Homeland Security (2.1 percent increase over fiscal 2012)

2) Health and Human Services (4.6 percent increase)

3) Veterans Affairs (5.3 percent increase)

4) Justice (7 percent increase)

5) Housing and Urban Development (9.5 percent increase)

6) Treasury (16.4 percent increase)

7) Education (27 percent increase)

This article may be found at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2014/04/7-agencies-where-contract-spending-sped-despite-sequester/82987

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