Comptroller: Federal Government Needs to Address ‘Systemic’ Acquisition Challenges

Noting that the federal government is the world’s single largest buyer – in fiscal year 2006, it spent more than $400 billion – Walker asserted that “structural deficits will mean escalating and ultimately unsustainable federal deficit and debt levels,” making it imperative that the federal government improve its acquisition and contracting practices.

“The American people have the right to expect no less,” Walker said.

Problem Not Limited to Defense Department

In his testimony, Walker pointed out that the Department of Defense – which, at $297 billion in acquisition obligations, was far and away the federal government’s biggest spender in FY 2006 – faces “15 systemic acquisition challenges,” such as service budgets being allocated based on historical percentages rather than on strategic assessments; overpromising and underdelivering in the acquisition of major weapons; and Congressional pressure to buy goods and services that DOD does not want or need.

Walker added that the problem is not limited to DOD. Noting that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been examining federal acquisition efforts for decades, Walker asserted that other agencies – including the Department of Energy and NASA – “often face similar challenges.”

Walker divided the acquisition challenges facing federal agencies into four categories:

• Separating wants from needs. “Our work [at GAO] has shown that agencies sometimes budget and allocate resources incrementally, largely based on historical precedents, rather than conduct bottom-up reviews and allocate resources based on the broader goals and objectives of agency strategic plans,” Walker said.
• Establishing and supporting realistic program requirements. According to Walker, “after differentiating their unlimited wants from their true needs, agencies need to translate their needs into appropriate, executable programs.”
• Using contractors in appropriate circumstances and contracts as a management tool. With the growing use of contractors by the U.S. military, Walker called this “a major and growing concern that needs immediate attention.” He urged the government to “engage in a fundamental re-examination of when and under what circumstances we should use contractors versus civil servants or military personnel.”
• Creating a capable work force and holding it accountable. “The acquisition work force’s workload and complexity of responsibilities have been increasing without adequate agency attention to the work force’s size, skills and knowledge and succession planning,” Walker said.

“Tackling each of these systemic challenges requires a fundamental and comprehensive re-examination of the federal government’s overall approach to contracting: what we buy, who we buy from and how we buy it,” Walker said.

Walker noted that GAO has made “numerous specific recommendations to DOD and other agencies on how to address these systemic acquisition challenges, many of which have not been implemented.”