Acquisition
Defense bill: 4 provisions to turn back the clock on insourcing
The House's defense authorization bill changes course on past efforts to restore contracted work to federal employees.
Acquisition
GAO: Agencies question usefulness of contract inventories
Some agency officials fear their in-depth inventories of service contracts will turn out to be useful to no one due to funding, manpower shortages.
Acquisition
House members support contractors in fight over pay
The tax has been tagged as a way to decrease the tax gap and make delinquent companies pay their share of taxes, although many lawmakers disagree.
Acquisition
Reporting political contributions would be bad for business, senator warns
Efforts to bolster competition and reach small businesses would be hurt if the administration begins to require companies to include political contributions in their contract bids, a senator says.
Acquisition
Some contractors owed taxes before getting stimulus infusion, GAO finds
The Government Accountability Office reviewed 80,000 contractors that got economic stimulus law funding and found that at least 3,700 owe unpaid federal taxes.
Acquisition
The 1,500 Commandments for contracting officers
How can contracting officers think about ways to make more creative and cost-effective acquisitions when just following the rules is a full-time job?
Acquisition
Want better contracts? Get creative.
Cost-reimbursement and fixed-priced contracts are just two ends of the contracting spectrum, writes Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at Deltek FedSources.
Acquisition
Outsourcing vs. insourcing: Solving the cost-comparison conundrum
A new report offers guidelines for sizing up the costs of public and private sector work.
Acquisition
Public/private competitions come under fire again
Sen. Mikulski is pushing for changes that would give federal employees a better fighting chance against outsourcing.
Acquisition
Why procurement reform hinges on industry help
Innovations in procurement require innovations in how government communicates with industry, writes Jaime Gracia, president and CEO of Seville Government Consulting.
Acquisition
House hearing heats up over contractor disclosure order
Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee put an administration official in the hot seat over a proposed draft order on disclosing federal contractor political contribution.
Acquisition
Hoyer won't back administration's proposal on political contributions
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer disagrees with the Obama administration's plan to make companies include political contribution information with all bid proposals.
Acquisition
House panel proposes adding experts to competitive sourcing
House officials want a broader segment of senior DOD officials involved in the process that pits the private sector against the public sector for government work.
Acquisition
IRS postpones 3 percent withholding tax on contractors
The Internal Revenue Service has delayed enforcing a regulation to requiring the government to withhold 3 percent of nearly all of companies’ contract payments.
Acquisition
Analysts see dynamic, changing defense industry
A new study says the defense industrial base isn't consolidating into a select few mega-companies that would get all of DOD's business.
Acquisition
DOD's 'Hello, I am a contractor' policy kicks in
Defense Department officials changed the department's regulations to require service contractors to identify themselves as a contractor, whether in person or in a letter.
Acquisition
How mushy mangoes can enlighten acquisition employees
Without a robust past-performance system, a lot of the incentive for better vendor performance disappears, writes columnist Steve Kelman.
Acquisition
Shifting market keeps DOD alert for conflicts of interest
As big defense contractors acquire other companies, officials must pay close attention to avoid conflicts of interest, a DOD official says.
Acquisition
DOD to negotiate prices more aggressively
DOD officials are telling contracting officials to bargain prices down, even when there's only one bidder for a contract.
Acquisition