FAS commissioner: Dan Tangherlini’s 'got our back'

If comments by Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Steve Kempf are any indication, the new acting General Services Administration Administrator Dan Tangherlini has the agency's confidence.

"He’s got our back," Kempf said, speaking at the Coalition for Government Procurement’s 2012 Spring Conference held April 26 to 27 in Vienna, Va.

“We are very fortunately to have Dan Tangherlini, a man of impeccable reputation, and he’s a great leader,” Kempf said. “I think he’s the right person to lead us where we’re going again, and he’s got our back at the moment. He’s going to be leading us out of this.”

Kempf was referring to the recent revelations of extravagant spending at the 2010 Western Regions Conference and acknowledged the incident had pushed GSA into a precarious position.

“These events obviously reflected very poorly on GSA, and they were not good for government as whole,” he said. “We’re all disappointed by the poor judgment that was shown by a few individuals, and I think everyone can agree, had some indefensible actions.”

Kempf’s remarks came after Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) proposed shuttering GSA and outsourcing its work to the private sector during another speech at the conference. Kempf has served as FAS commissioner since July 10, 2010, overseeing the delivery of more than $50 billion of products, services and solutions to government customers. He also held this role in an acting capacity from April through June 2010, and was the deputy commissioner prior to that.