Defense Acquisition Reform | Center for Effective Government

'Independent' Defense Review Panel Suggests Congress Shower the Industry with Money

Aug 2, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

Last week, the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Independent Panel, a four-year old body created by Congress to provide an "alternate view" of the Pentagon's periodic internal assessment, released its report on the 2010 QDR. Simply put, the panel, whose membership includes a majority of individuals in the defense contracting industry, said, "Yes, please" in response to the government's question about how to allocate its limited resources.

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Conflicts of Interest Abound on Congressional QDR Review Panel

Mar 4, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

Kudos to Ray Locker and Ken Dilanian at USA Today who recently published a story on the rampant conflicts of interest within a study panel that evaluates the Department of Defense's (DOD) Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) for Congress. Locker and Dilanian's analysis found that "more than half of the panel members appointed to review the Pentagon's latest four-year strategy blueprint have financial ties to defense contractors with a stake in the planning process."

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What Makes Defense Spending so Special?

Jan 26, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

Following up on Craig's post earlier this evening, I wanted to point out some of the really good points that Spencer Ackerman over at the Washington Independent and Matt Yglesias over at Think Progress have been making all day about President Obama's recently announced spending freeze. Ackerman asks why in the world defense spending should go unaffected and Yglesias adds that, while there are reasons to treat various kinds of spending and taxes differently, "the security / non-security distinction doesn’t hold up ... at all."

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Executives Caught in FBI Sting Represent Companies with Government Contracts

Jan 22, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

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.

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New DOD Contracting Rule Aims at Flawed Business Systems

Jan 19, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

A proposed rule published in the most recent edition of the Federal Register takes aim at Department of Defense (DOD) contractors with deficient business systems. The rule, which seeks to reduce "the risk of unallowable and unreasonable costs on Government contracts," would allow contracting officers to withhold a percentage of payments from contractors with deficiencies in specific business systems.

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House Committee to Hold Hearing on Army Contracting Scandal

Nov 30, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Back in August, I wrote a post on a WaPo article about George Raymond, a former Army official with the Communications-Electronic Command (CECOM), and allegations that Raymond steered government contracts to his friends and then broke ethics rules by taking a comfortable job in the contracting industry afterwards. The Post is now reporting that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee – which has been investigating the matter since the story broke – recently requested all documents, emails, and material related to the $200 million worth of CECOM technology contracts that Raymond allegedly steered to friends.

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Wartime Contracting Commission: DOD Must Improve Oversight of Contractor Business Systems

Sep 22, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

As pointed out this afternoon by the Project on Government Oversight's (POGO) Scott Amey, the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan released a special report yesterday summarizing their review of inadequate contractor business systems. The report follows up on work the commission did over the summer when it held a hearing on contractors' deficient internal control systems. Based on testimony and evidence from the hearing, the special report lays out five recommendations for the Department of Defense (DOD) to improve oversight of and encourage better business systems from contractors.

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Acquisition Experts of Little Help to Congress on Defense Reform

Jun 8, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Last Wednesday morning, I attended a House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing convened by the recently formed Defense Acquisition Reform Panel. The three witnesses – Gordon R. England, a two-time Secretary of the Navy and former Deputy Secretary of Defense, Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr., a retired Navy admiral and former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ronald T. Kadish, a retired Air Force Lieutenant General – all emphasized the same abstract fix and provided little, if any, concrete guidance.

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Defense Acquisition Reform: Where Do We Stand?

Jun 5, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Recent events are pointing to a shift by the Department of Defense (DOD) and at least one of the branches of the military in the way they will implement future government contracts. The passage of a new law, the planned addition of much-needed acquisition personnel at DOD – by far the government's largest contracting agency – and an intended top-to-bottom overhaul of the Air Force's procurement process are all geared toward reforming a system ripe with waste, fraud, and abuse. Despite this, barriers remain and these reforms will face critical challenges ahead.

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