Contracting, Base Closings to Be Major Issues

The conference on the bill will have to address substantial differences affecting contracting out and base closings. The House’s version would require DoD to perform formal cost studies before contracting-out on new functions and on functions employing 10 or more workers and would require studies of whether certain work already out on contract should be brought back in-house. The House version also imposes a series of reporting requirements on base closings that in sum would delay by two years the process that currently is on track to produce a recommended set of closings next year. The White House has threatened to veto the measure if the final version adopts the House provisions on those two issues.