Without authorization or training, the Office of Special
Counsel assumed the duties of contracting officer
representatives in getting an office within the Department
of Treasury to issue a lucrative sole-source task order,
the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said that at OSC’s request, the Administrative Resource
Center within the Treasury’s Bureau of Public Debt, which
OCS pays to provide it with contract support, issued a
$140,000 sole-source task order for an organizational
assessment to consulting firm Military Professional
Resources, Inc.
Competition was not sought as required, there was no
convincing demonstration of why such an order was needed,
and how and why the price was deemed reasonable was not
documented, according to GAO-06-16.
It said while ARC is responsible for ensuring that
justification for waiving competition is adequate and
that proper contracting procedures are followed, that it
merely relied on OSC’s input to justify the sole-source
order and its price.
ARC also said it was unaware that OSC had assumed the
contracting-related duties, and that it was now paying
closer attention to requests from their customers for
sole-source orders, according to GAO.
