GAO criticizes DHS's reliance on contractors

Talking about DHS contractors: The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a recent report, says DHS uses too many of them and pays too much money for their services. What is more, the billions of dollars buy services which are similar to work usually reserved for government employees. In addition, the sheer reliance of the department on outside help in supporting inherently governmental tasks may create an unhealthy situation in which DHS’s decisions may be unduly influenced by contractors. In nine contracts closely reviewed by the GAO, department officials did not follow federal guidance in assessing and addressing the risk of allowing contractors to support inherently government tasks such as preparing budgets, developing policies and regulations, and coordinating intelligence, GAO said. DHS program officials “did not assess the risk that government decisions may be influenced by, rather than independent from, contractor judgments — as required by federal program guidance,” GAO said in the report. “In addition, none of the program officials and contractors we spoke with was aware of these requirements, and few believed that their professional and management support service contracts required enhanced oversight.”

FCW’s Alice Lipowics writes that Senate leaders described the findings as troubling. DHS spent $15.7 billion on goods and services in fiscal 2006, of which more than $5 billion was obligated for management support, including acquisition support, strategic planning and human resources, GAO said. In more than half of the 117 cases reviewed at DHS, the work being performed by the hired help was closely supporting inherently governmental functions, the GAO said. Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation these functions require greater oversight and present greater risk to the government.

Lipowicz reports that in response to the report, Elaine Duke, chief procurement officer at DHS, said seven of the nine cases reviewed in detail by the GAO are no longer active contracts. Furthermore, DHS officials are reviewing all noncompetitive contracts and addressing the issues raised by GAO, she said. Most of the problems outlined by GAO are due to the severe shortage of acquisition and professional staff at the department and governmentwide, and also by DHS’s special mandate to fulfill its antiterrorism missions urgently. “This is not just a DHS issue, it is a federal problem,” Duke said at the hearing.