ProcurementDHS wastes billions in procurement process
A recent DHS Inspector General report found that the agency had not leveraged its collective buying power thereby losing billions of dollars in potential cost savings; the report found that DHS’s various agencies individually bought $170 million worth of small x-ray machines, metal detectors, and hand-held radiation detectors rather than purchasing those items together, in a practice known as strategic sourcing.
DHS procurement waste criticized // Source: bttlosllorones.com
A recent DHS Inspector General report found that the agency had not leveraged its collective buying power thereby losing billions of dollars in potential cost savings.
The report found that DHS’s various agencies individually bought $170 million worth of small x-ray machines, metal detectors, and hand-held radiation detectors rather than purchasing those items together, in a practice known as strategic sourcing.
Last week testifying before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management, DHS Inspector General Charles K. Edwards said the department has no process for standardizing equipment purchases across the organization and there is no requirement to establish a strategic sourcing program
“Components view detection equipment as unique to their missions and do not attempt to identify common mission requirements, among other components,” he said. “This results in numerous inefficient purchases by individual components instead of consolidated purchases.”
For instance, eight DHS agencies including Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement all use similar threat detection system, yet each agency continues to purchase their equipment separately.
Had the agencies coordinated their purchases, they could have save hundreds of millions as they spent more than $3.2 billion on metal detectors, explosive detection systems, and radiation detectors in 2010 alone.
Edwards went on to say that DHS is not following a directive from the Office of Management and Budget that was issued six years ago that required agencies to use strategic sourcing as often as possible. DHS has used strategic sourcing to procure less costly items like firearms, ammunition, and office supplies, but it has not used it to purchase expensive detection equipment.
At the hearing, Representative Michael McCaul (R – Texas), the subcommittee chairman, lambasted DHS for its failure to coordinate with the Department of Defense on its disastrous $1 billion attempt to build a virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“This administration needs to stop investing in high-risk acquisition programs until they can effectively manage and oversee them,” McCaul said. “One of [DHS] Secretary Janet Napolitano’s top priorities is unifying the Department of Homeland Security and supporting a one-DHS policy, but unfortunately the secretary and this administration have failed to coordinate and integrate acquisition functions department-wide. This has led to the failure of multiple acquisition programs and the waste of millions of taxpayer dollars.”
In defense of its acquisition strategy, Henry I. Gonzalez, the director of acquisitions support and operations analysis for DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate, said that DHS works closely with the Department of Defense (DoD) as well as the Energy Department on a number of deals.
Specifically in reference to the virtual border fence, Gonzalez explained that the Defense Department and DHS have very different equipment requirements. “It is rare that DoD and DHS mission needs, operating environments and budget constraints line up exactly together,” he said.
