On Tuesday, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested 22 executives from the military and police equipment industry on violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), they nabbed a number of individuals that work for companies that contract with the government. Of the 16 companies represented, at least half received federal dollars for products or services during fiscal year 2009, and most of them have had a relationship with the government stretching back several years.

Originally due out at the beginning of this month, the three memoranda released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today are a substantive step by the Obama administration in its attempt to reform government contracting. OMB issued the memos in response to a directive in a March 4 presidential memorandum on contracting reform. The three memos provide guidance to agency heads on performing reviews of current contracts, developing plans to reduce the amount of money spent on future outsourcing, managing the multi-sector workforce, and improving the use of contractor performance information. These memos are precursors to more detailed guidance on competition, contract types, acquisition workforce, and outsourcing due out by September 30 of this year.