The House has approved an amendment that would halt contracting in agencies funded in the Science, State, Justice and Commerce spending bill until federal employees have the same appeal rights in contracting decisions as contractors.
Put forward by Reps. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., and Walter Jones, R-N.C., the provision would prohibit agencies funded in that bill from using appropriated money to privatize jobs under Office of Management and Budget A-76 rules.
The House also recently approved an amendment in the fiscal 2007 Transportation-Treasury spending bill preventing the Internal Revenue Service from hiring contractors to collect taxes.
The National Treasury Employees Union noted that these amendments could signal a “growing sense in Congress that the administration’s drive to contract out as much federal work as possible is the wrong path to take.”
“The bipartisan Andrews-Jones amendment would give conferees an opportunity to provide federal employees in agencies funded by this bill with the same right that contractors have long enjoyed to have flawed and biased contracting out decisions reviewed by independent third-parties such as the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims,” said AFGE National President John Gage.
