Archive: GSA
Rising Star?
As some of you undoubtedly know by now, the White House has nominated Jim Williams to be the next administrator of the General Services Administration. In case you forgot, the GSA is supposed to be the government's premier contracting agency. In fact it is an agency with troubles, led until...
By Robert O'Harrow | June 27, 2008; 11:53 AM ET | Comments (0)
Getting Along
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...
By Robert O'Harrow | April 22, 2008; 09:17 AM ET | Comments (1)
The GSA IG and Squabbles
The Office of Inspector General at the General Services Administration has been beset by internal differences, a distraction for an operation that was already embroiled in several disputes. The disputes follow a long battle between IG Brian Miller and GSA chief Lurita Doan. In 2006, Doan chided Miller for...
By Robert O'Harrow | January 12, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (16)
Doan, the White House and Wikipedia
It has been several months since Government Inc. last checked in on General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan and the U.S. special counsel's recommendation that she be removed from office for allegedly violating the Hatch Act. Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch urged President Bush on June 8 to discipline...
By Robert O'Harrow | November 28, 2007; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (3)
Alliant On Hold?
InformationWeek is reporting that the General Services Administration's $50 billion technology acquisition program known as Alliant has been put on hold after a group of irked vendors filed a lawsuit claiming the GSA did not follow proper procedures in awarding contracts. Stay tuned. The Alliant program, awarded after much...
By Robert O'Harrow | November 16, 2007; 04:41 PM ET | Email a Comment
GSA and Defections
Government Executive has an interesting story about the continuing fallout from questions about the Sun Microsystems contract and the allegations that the IT vendor overcharged taxpayers. In short, it says that two other IT vendors have bailed out of the GSA -- choosing not to renew their contracts to...
By Robert O'Harrow | November 12, 2007; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (8)
From The Senate Floor
Sen. Charles Grassley has made a special place for himself over the years as an eagle eye on the lookout for fraud, waste and abuse. By his own description, he considers his duty to watch out for taxpayers a "sacred responsibility." In that spirit, he took the floor of...
By Robert O'Harrow | October 17, 2007; 07:03 PM ET | Comments (4)
The GSA, Bribes and $150 Million In Contracts
Here is fuel for those cynics who believe -- or at least speculate now and then in hushed tones -- that there are contracting officials in the federal government who are on the take. A former chief executive for a security company pleaded guilty yesterday to giving $100,000 in...
By Robert O'Harrow | October 3, 2007; 04:21 PM ET | Comments (22)
Working At Home II
Readers of Government Inc. yesterday may have noticed the name Stephen O'Keeffe, a public relations executive who also testifies before Congress as a specialist about issues that his clients want the world to notice. O'Keeffe had organized a "town hall" meeting about telecommuting, this time as organizer of a...
By Robert O'Harrow | September 14, 2007; 07:27 AM ET | Comments (4)
Working At Home
My colleague Steve Barr has column in today's paper that federal workers -- and hopefully a lot of other people -- will find interesting. First and foremost, it's interesting because Barr reports that General Services Administrator Lurita Doan threw her support unequivocally behind teleworking. That's a different way of...
By Robert O'Harrow | September 13, 2007; 05:34 AM ET | Comments (3)
Entrepreneurial Bureaucracy
The General Services Administration's announcement of an overhaul of Assisted Acquisition Services raises some far-reaching questions about the procurement reforms of a decade ago. The acquisition services operation helps officials in other agencies buy things, for a special fee. It grew out of reforms in the 1990's that allowed...
By Robert O'Harrow | September 11, 2007; 07:06 AM ET | Comments (3)
Bush, Doan And The Hatch Act
Consider this question a blast from the not-too-distant past: What is happening to the recommendation by the U.S. Special Counsel that President Bush discipline General Services Administration chief Lurita Alexis Doan "to the fullest extent" over allegations she asked political appointees how they could "help our candidates" during a...
By Robert O'Harrow | August 7, 2007; 11:37 AM ET | Comments (3)
GSA, Sun and More Questions To Come
The troubles with the General Services Administration's contract with Sun Microsystems became well known this spring. Investigators for Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the Democratic Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, turned up evidence in documents and interviews that appeared to show that the giant software maker had...
By Robert O'Harrow | July 10, 2007; 06:17 AM ET | Comments (14)
