Contracting-Out Also at Stake

Many of the appropriations bills in progress contain restrictions on the contracting-out program, what the Bush administration calls competitive sourcing. The Transportation-Treasury bill would continue to require that federal employees be allowed to reorganize into a “most efficient organization” before private sector bids are considered, and that for functions employing 10 or more in-house employees, work would be contracted out only if the contractor’s bid was at least 10 percent or $10 million lower. That language is in place permanently for DoD—which does most of the government’s contracting—but must be renewed for other agencies.