USAID | The Contracting Education Academy

January 29, 2013 By AMK

Possible USAID bid rigging investigated

The Justice Department is conducting an investigation into possible contract rigging by the general counsel at the government agency that distributes foreign aid, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Memos from the inspector general of the U.S. Agency for International Development also reveal that there was evidence that Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg tried to interfere with an internal investigation.

The inspector general’s office told a House committee on Wednesday that the Justice Department investigation was “ongoing.”

An attorney for the USAID general counsel, Lisa Gomer, said Thursday night that he was told the Justice Department decided not to initiate a criminal investigation. He declined to say who in the department informed him there was no probe.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2013/01/24/ap-exclusive-govt-probes-possible-usaid-bid-rigs

January 5, 2012 By AMK

USAID pushes for more competition, less onerous regulations

The U.S. Agency for International Development is seeking to increase competition for its contracts and make its programs more accessible to small and disadvantaged businesses as part of a larger agency-wide reform effort.

Concerned that a reduction in contracting staff has led to an increased reliance on a fairly small group of contractors and nongovernmental organizations, USAID has made changes to its procurement program a key part of its reform.

In its plan for change, the agency says it is “falling short” in accessing the full range of talent in both U.S. businesses and organizations and those in developing countries.

USAID has started by promoting more competition within its programs, particularly focusing on setting aside more awards for small and disadvantaged businesses.

The agency has established a review board that looks at ways to make large contracts more accessible to small businesses, such as by splitting them into smaller pieces, said Aman S. Djahanbani, USAID’s chief acquisition officer.

“Broadening our partner base … just makes good business sense, and it furthers sustainable development,” Djahanbani said.

At the same time, the agency is trying to work with more of the organizations and companies that are local to a given country. Littleton Tazewell, senior adviser to USAID’s general counsel for implementation and procurement reform, said the agency often relies on intermediaries — such as U.S.-based contractors or international nongovernmental organizations — to work with local bodies.

“The idea here is to increase our direct engagement with local organizations,” said Tazewell, who said a deeper understanding of local organizations will help USAID craft better solicitations.

The agency also is seeking to make its regulations and rules less burdensome to encourage more companies and organizations to compete for contracts and grants.

USAID acknowledged that some larger contractors or NGOs may see reduced work as a result of its procurement reform moves.

“Our partners need to realize that there is more competition,” said Djahanbani. “However, they definitely have a role to play — maybe a different role.”

For instance, he said, in some cases a local organization could serve as the prime contractor while an international or U.S.-based organization could function as a subcontractor.

Tazewell said USAID has engaged the companies and organizations it frequently uses as it reforms in an effort to identify their particular problems.

Still, USAID is only about 18 months into what it expects to be a five-year process, Tazewell said.

“We’re going to trip and make some mistakes along the way, but our expectation is at the end of that five-year process we’ll be a much better organization,” he said. “We will have a structure [and a] regulatory framework that allows for a broadened partner base that’s both local- and small business-oriented.”

— by Marjorie Censer – The Washington Post – published December 25, 2011 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/usaid-pushes-for-more-competition-less-onerous-regulations/2011/11/28/gIQA1chUHP_story.html.

July 8, 2011 By AMK

White House plans cuts to support service contracts

The Obama administration will require federal agencies to cut spending for management support service contracts by 15 percent by the end of fiscal year 2012.

As part of the White House Campaign to Cut Waste, Office of Management and Budget officials will announce Thursday their plans to reduce the bill for those services from $40 billion in fiscal year 2010 to $34 billion.

Management support services include such functions as program management, acquisition planning and information technology development. Spending on those services rose four-fold from fiscal year 2000 through 2010, according to administration figures.

Most of that jump occurred during President George W. Bush’s administration, which vastly increased the government’s contractor workforce, while allowing the corps of federal employees assigned to oversee the work of contractors to remain flat. As a result, in some cases contractors ended up managing contractors.

Jeffrey Zients, the administration’s chief performance officer and a deputy OMB director, and Dan Gordon, the federal procurement administrator, will lead the White House Forum on Accountability in Federal Contracting. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development also are on the agenda.

White House figures show that government spending on outside contractors declined last year for the first time in 13 years.

— By Joe Davidson – The Washington Post – 06:00 AM ET, 07/07/2011 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/white-house-plans-cuts-to-support-service-contracts/2011/04/15/gIQAz9IR1H_blog.html

June 14, 2011 By AMK

Report: Contractor waste in war zones could grow

As President Obama nears his decision on reducing U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, a new report warns of prospects for massive new waste in contractor projects in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Newly built power plants that sit idle, water treatment plants that produce nonpotable water and facilities constructed for security forces that could potentially exceed $11 billion in costs are some examples given in the report released June 3 by the federal Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Titled “Sustainability: Hidden Costs Risk New Waste,” the fifth special report from the congressionally chartered panel set up in 2008 says many of the programs and projects carried out under federal contracts in the war zones “lack plans for staffing, technical support and funding for the long term” in such projects as health clinics and road building. As a result, said commission co-chairman Michael Thibault, billions could be wasted if projects are turned “over to a host government that can’t supply trained people to run it, pay for supplies, or perform essential maintenance.”

“A paradigm example stands in Kabul,” the report said. “American taxpayers’ dollars paid for building the $300 million Tarakhil Power Plant, also known as the Kabul Power Plant. The plant is completed. But it is little used, and the cost to operate and maintain it is too great for the Afghan government to sustain from its own resources.”

The report asks the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development to examine the projects, make a detailed assessment of the host nations’ ability to complete the projects, cancel or redesign projects as warranted, and report results to Congress by the end of 2011.

On Monday, Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy told a hearing of the Wartime Contracting Commission that the State Department will be ready to take over responsibilities in Iraq from the Defense Department on Oct. 1, as scheduled. “As the military draws down, and the [State] department’s plans are implemented to increase the civilian presence in Iraq, the department is relying on the use of contractors for certain functions which are not inherently governmental,” Kennedy said in prepared testimony. “We use contractors in contingency operations when it makes sense and is cost-efficient, as opposed to building up permanent, U.S. direct-hire staff.”

–by Charles S. Clark – Government Executive – June 6, 2011 – http://www.govexec.com/story_page_pf.cfm?articleid=47948&printerfriendlyvers=1

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