The end of the Perry era at GSA?

There are rumors swirling that GSA administrator Stephen Perry has resigned. If true, this will be a shock to... well, probably nobody. These rumors have been circulating for weeks. And recently had even sold his Potomac, Md. home.

He was testifying before a Senate committee Thursday and our reporter asked him if he was leaving soon.
The response: "No comment."
Our reporter followed up by asking about his house and he said he was taking advantage of the housing market.

It will be interesting to see how the Perry era is remembered. It has not been an easy period for GSA with the whole controversy about the regions -- an aside: can somebody explain to me why the regions even exist other than creating good political appointments for various administrations.

Perry has also had to deal with the controversy about the improper use of GSA's IT schedule contract for interrogators at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

Even more recently, he has been guiding GSA through a massive reorganization, which I suspect will end up being more complex than expected and have ramifications that we do not fully understand right now.

My perception -- and I stand to be corrected -- is that Perry was not as tech focused as, say, David Barram was. To be sure, Barram was extraordinary on IT issues, but he had that background. He worked at Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics and Apple Computer. So perhaps that is an impossible standard for a GSA administrator.

There is much on the agenda for the new GSA administrator. Unfortunately, with a significant vacancy at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and with Rep. Tom Davis still somewhat considering leaving his congressional seat for a high-paying lobbying job, there are many empty seats. This often happens in the second term of an administration, but this is a bit early for that to happen.