2008-05-15T10:00:05Z tag:blog.washingtonpost.com,2008:/government-inc//315 Copyright (c) 2008, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2008-05-15T10:00:05Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-15:/government-inc/2008/05/top_dogs.html

Stop The Presses! Government's Top Contractors Announced. Thank you Washington Technology. The Winners: 1. Lockheed Martin 2. Boeing 3. Northrop Grumman Ok, that's not really a shocking newsflash. Of course they're at the top. They always are these years. And that pays. The winners win a lot more money these days. Not to belabor the matter, let's look at Lockheed's federal contracting awards last year and five years ago. Now: $13.4 billion. Then: $4.8...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T10:00:05Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-14:/government-inc/2008/05/nuke_insecurity.html

Remember the stories about the incredible security breaches at Los Alamos National Laboratory? Investigators found the place was riddled with security violations, some that allowed an employee to secret out more than 1,000 classified documents. Now comes a Time Magazine report about the vulnerabilities at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It seems that a Red Team testing the lab's physical defenses found them wanting. Can you say contract security forces, which is what the lab...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-08T10:02:42Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-08:/government-inc/2008/05/very_special_forces.html

Military outsourcing has reached another milestone of sorts, according to a story by Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus that deserved much better play. Here's what it said, in case you missed it over the weekend: "U.S. commanders in Iraq are for the first time seeking private contractors to form part of the small military teams that train and live with Iraqi military units across the country, according to a notice for prospective bidders published...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-07T11:01:47Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-07:/government-inc/2008/05/on_the_feds_radar.html

A Pennsylvania contractor has acknowledged overcharging the government for millions worth of components for radar systems. A USAToday story said that Herley Industries "gave federal auditors false information and withheld data about the cost of making some electronic components used in E-2C Hawkeye aircraft radar. They said the company admitted that the government was overcharged about $2.5 million on about $3.2 million in contracts." This isn't a lot of money, of course, but I'm...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-06T11:13:41Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-06:/government-inc/2008/05/it_lives.html

My colleague Mike Rosenwald has an intriguing piece today about a biotech company called Emergent BioSolutions and its controversial former arch-rival VaxGen. "The effort to protect the country from another anthrax attack will take an unexpected turn today when Rockville firm Emergent BioSolutions plans to announce that it has bought for $2 million an anthrax vaccine from a California company that federal health officials dropped in 2006," Rosenwald wrote. It appears once again that the...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-01T20:38:55Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-01:/government-inc/2008/05/doan_resigns.html

As you know by now, GSA chief Lurita Doan has resigned. She said she did so at the request of the White House, but no one has been able to answer the question: Why now? After all, both she and the White House stood firm in the face of intense criticism for almost a year, since the Office of Special Counsel urged the president to discipline her "to the fullest extent" for alleged violations...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-04-30T20:01:57Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-30:/government-inc/2008/04/oh_my.html

Hate to seem like I'm picking on defense contractors and the hardworking DoD acquisition workforce. But people. Please. What is going on here? Officials from the Government Accountability Office, in testimony before House lawmakers released yesterday, said cost overruns and missed deadlines are getting worse. The GAO review found that average delays in delivery were 16 months. Last year, the average delay was 21 months.The estimated total acquisition cost growth rose from $42 billion...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-28:/government-inc/2008/04/cyber_insecurity.html

Government Inc. has been fretting lately and for the umpteenth time about cyber security. Signs are that it's a lot worse out there than we want to admit. I was startled by a recent chat in one of the most secure rooms in the universe, where a government official said as an aside that many company computers are so besieged by on-line attacks that executives consider themselves already engaged in a cyber war. Anyway,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-25:/government-inc/2008/04/igs_and_oversight.html

The Senate has approved a measure to bolster the roles of inspectors general, the figures in government who have perhaps the main role in providing eyes and ears for American taxpayers. The Inspector General Reform Act of 2007 would ensure that the IG jobs are filled with qualified folks who can operate independently of the agencies they're responsible for overseeing. Under the legislation, the IG reports and audits would be more readily available to...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-24:/government-inc/2008/04/databases_and_loopholes.html

The House yesterday approved the Federal Spending Accountability Act, which mandates the creation of a database of contractor misdeeds that could be used in award decisions. Introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the legislation presses an idea that has been bouncing around in Congress for a while: to hold companies responsible for bad behavior. It was approved by a voice vote just hours after going to the floor for debate. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-23:/government-inc/2008/04/unfair.html

Contractors want to kill a federal effort to create a database of civil, criminal and administrative proceedings against them. The reason: It would be unfair to contractors. So says a story last week in DefenseNews. The Federal Spending Accountability Act, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), went to the floor of the House for debate this morning. It calls for the creation of a data systemt to "'track fraudulent federal contractors and prevent them...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-22:/government-inc/2008/04/getting_along.html

The dispute between the GSA Chief Lurita Doan and GSA Inspector General Brian Miller continues to simmer like a fine sauce. You will recall that Doan complained two years ago that Miller was not going along with streamlining efforts at the agency, while Milller accused her of trying to crimp his ability to oversee contracts and GSA operations. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who pays close attention to oversight and IG operations, chided them both. The...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-17:/government-inc/2008/04/hoosier_daddy.html

Hoosier lawmaker Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D) asks a good question: Should contractors working abroad have to pay the U.S. government billions in unpaid taxes? His answer: Yes! And he's moving ahead in making it a law. On Monday -- yes, one day before Tax Day -- the House approved his Contracting and Tax Accountability Act, H.R. 4881. The Senate sponsor is Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Robert Brodsky at Government Executive wrote about it. And...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-16:/government-inc/2008/04/loophole_the_hearing.html

The promised hearing on The Loophole took place as planned. And just as expected, we got a potpourri of opinions from various quarters, including the Justice Department, Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the contractor world. Informed observers will recall that said loophole was inserted into a proposed OMB rule exempting U.S. contractors in foreign countries from having to report waste, fraud or abuse they encounter while doing work for the government. Critics saw...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-11:/government-inc/2008/04/earmarks_and_misdirection.html

It turns out that even some of the biggest beneficiaries of earmarks are finding them to be too much of a good thing. That according to the folks at Taxpayers for Common Sense. The group keyed to a new Defense Department Inspector General's "Report on the Cost, Oversight, and Impact of Congressional Earmarks." In a posting yesterday, the group's blog lifts a quote from the report by a senior Air Force official as saying...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Robert O'Harrow