People

DOD program drops the ball on pricing paperwork, IG says

A $11.2 billion contract did not have the required documents, such as records on pre-negotiations and price negotiation memos, which are essential for accountability and transparency, report says.

People

When contractors pay the cost of war

Contractors recently unleashed some of their frustrations on FCW.com over the rap they get as they work alongside government employees.

People

Defense officials developing 'world-class buyers'

Defense Department official Shay Assad is digging into what defense agencies are paying for products and services to find how to get as much possible from the money they spend.

People

Procurement office starts cleaning up contract data problems

Agencies are under more pressure to get their facts right as their contracting data goes public and gets more scrutiny.

People

The VA Acquisition Academy: A model worth building on?

The Veterans Affairs Department sees an opportunity to develop a better acquisition workforce.

Acquisition

5 ideas for improving the acquisition process

Five experts share their ideas for improving different steps of the acquisition life cycle.

People

Has Obama administration dropped the ball on performance-based acquisition?

Steve Kelman traces continuity of management approaches through three presidential administrations.

Digital Government

Senior Army acquisition official resigns

Michael O'Neill abruptly resigned from his position as assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition.

People

Shay Assad becomes director of defense pricing

Shay Assad, a senior procurement policy official at the Defense Department, is now the director of defense pricing.

People

Federal procurement turns green

A new acquisition regulation imposes standards for environmental friendliness and sustainability on federal procurements.

People

GSA making headway on customer focus

But some observers say GSA isn't doing enough to understand agencies' missions.

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.

Digital Government

Lawmakers try to separate politics, contracting

Two bills would prohibit contractors from including information in a contract proposal about political contributions to candidates or causes.

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.

People

GSA adds electric cars to federal fleet; many more to come

The federal motor pool gets a little greener with the addition of electric cars.

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.

People

Retired feds rally for second tour of acquisition duty

The federal government rehired 125 retired federal employees in 2010 for its acquisition workforce, according to an Office of Federal Procurement Policy report.

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?