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.

These and other seemingly commonsensical budget cuts can be found in an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report released yesterday.

In a June 11 memo, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Peter Orszag outlined the process for executive branch agencies to submit their FY 2011 budgets. According to the memo, the White House and OMB will solicit goals for each agency from the heads of the respective executive departments. Additionally, the memo outlined procedures for government agencies to reform their hiring processes and improve employee satisfaction and wellness. It is too early to discern the impact of these procedures, but the tone of the memo seems markedly different from those of the Bush administration on these matters.