It would eliminate contractors' ability to point out even simple mistakes or offer their perspective on circumstances when the agency officials view it different way, critics say.
The Integrations contract would address agencies' needs for professional services that span several types of areas that are often difficult to specify or quantify.
Our original story reported incorrectly that the Obama administration's budget request had backed away from the plan to require the reporting political contributions when submitting the bids for contracts. In fact, the opposite is true.
Obama's 2013 budget proposal aims to slash federal IT in some areas but expand its use when it can streamline government operations. The budget also includes an overall 8-percent reduction in Small Business Administration technical assistance programs.
Overall, The president’s 2013 budget request calls for $27.1 billion in discretionary funding, a decrease of 0.4 percent below the 2012 level of $27.02 billion.
The Citizens Against Government Waste taxpayer group is investigating the extent to which federal agencies are on the hook for expensive contractor pension benefits.
Katrina McFarland has been performing the assistant secretary’s duties since October 2011 while serving as president of Defense Acquisition University.
