GAO Report on Contractors in Workplace

A Government Executive article examines a new GAO report on the increasingly blurry line between contractors and civil service employees and possible responses:

"Every day, contractors work side by side with federal employees, and yet the government might not even know when the self-interests of contractors are pitted against the interests of the American taxpayer," Lieberman said. "Given the government's increased reliance on outside contractors, we need an immediate overhaul of federal ethics policies to ensure that conflicts of interest don't impair the impartiality of contractors or their employees."

On Wednesday, the Civilian Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulation Council, which recommend changes to the FAR, announced that they were considering new contractor conflict-of-interest clauses. The notice in the Federal Register said the councils want to determine whether the regulation's current guidance "adequately addresses the current needs of the acquisition community."

A Washington Post story on the GAO report is available.

Thanks to Mark Stone for links to the Federal Register notices, summarized as follows:

• Employee PCI: The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) are interested in determining if, when, and how service contractor employees’ personal conflicts of interest (PCI) need to be addressed and whether greater disclosure of contractor practices, specific prohibitions, or reliance on specified principles would be most effective and efficient in promoting ethical behavior.
• Organizational Conflicts of Interest:   The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) are seeking information that will assist in determining whether the Federal Acquisition Regulation System’s current guidance on organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) adequately addresses the current needs of the acquisition community or whether providing standard provisions and/or clauses, or a set of such standard provisions and clauses, might be beneficial.