OMB Watch has made a public statement on the General Service Adminstration's (GSA) controversial decision to reduce and outsource oversight over government contracts. To reduce oversight, GSA wants to undercut its accomplished Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The GSA OIG has exposed irresponsible contractors at Abu Ghraib, and did investigations that led to the high-profile conviction of David Safavian, the former GSA chief of staff. So why is GSA trying to have OIG do less investigating? And how is it that manipulating oversight this way is even possible? For background, see this fact sheet on GSA's plans and blog entries here and here.