Federal agencies may be relying too much on temporary “bridge” contracts–the temporary extension of contracts without a competitive bidding process–out of convenience at the risk of overpaying, according to a letter to OMB from Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Tom Carper, D-Del.
The senators were reacting to a recent GAO report examining practices at DoD, HHS and Justice finding they “have limited to no insight into their use of bridge contracts. In particular, GAO found they have no agency-level policies to manage and track bridge contracts, nor do their acquisition regulations define bridge contracts. Additionally, GAO found that although bridge contracts are typically envisioned as short-term, some span multiple years, potentially without the right level of oversight,” they said in releasing the letter.
Several agencies including DoD and Justice, lacked even a formal definition of these contracts, which are envisioned as short-term fixes but in practice sometimes go on for a number of years, they said. Further, they said, agencies may follow such contracts with another sole-source contract, leaving the procurement non-competitive for an extended period.
The letter asks how the government”s chief procurement office plans to respond to the recommendations and ensure better accountability.
