GAO said that while the troubled asset program has added many new programs since being introduced in October and although changes are in store under the new administration that will make it difficult to determine long-term organizational needs, such considerations are vital to retaining institutional knowledge in the organization.
For contracting oversight, GAO recommended that Treasury expedite efforts to ensure that sufficient personnel are assigned and properly trained to oversee the performance of all contractors, especially for contracts priced on a time-and-materials basis, and move toward fixed-price arrangements whenever possible as program requirements are better defined over time.
It also recommended that Treasury review and renegotiate existing conflict-of-interest mitigation plans to enhance specificity and conformity with new interim conflicts of interest regulations, and take continued steps to manage and monitor conflicts of interest and enforce mitigation plans.