The VA accounted for $14.3 billion of the $58.3 billion in claimed savings from category management over 2021-2024. Image: Charles-McClintock Wilson / Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA GAO report has stressed the need for agencies to keep a continuing focus on category management initiatives, saying that responsible officials at the VA “generally did not fulfill their responsibilities because senior leaders responsible for oversight did not take steps to ensure they did so.”
The VA has assigned officials to manage 10 common spending categories, such as medical and IT goods and services, but “Until senior VA leaders hold these officials accountable, VA will struggle to consistently implement its category management policy and take important steps that could result in savings, reduced contract duplication, or other benefits,” said a report.
Category management, which seeks to leverage the government’s buying power to yield savings on goods and services, has been in place across administrations spanning two decades and recently was reemphasized by the Trump administration in OMB guidance and in a rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
The VA accounted for $14.3 billion of the $58.3 billion in claimed savings from category management over 2021-2024, the GAO said, but “category leads told GAO that they did not set or manage toward category-specific savings goals. Doing so could help VA leverage its buying power to save taxpayer dollars and quantify the return on investment for a larger share of its category management efforts.”
Of the ten categories, it added, none had met what GAO called key responsibilities of implementing demand management strategies and developing and implementing a strategic cost management plan. Only one had developed vendor management strategies and only three had shared product and service data or developed staff in category management.
It said that while the VA has developed training on category management principles, some key officials had not taken that training and until they do, “the agency will struggle to fully implement its category management policy.”
GAO said that VA agreed with recommendations to establish specific savings goals, set performance requirements for category managers, and ensure that key officials take training relevant to their roles.
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