Among the other issues still pending on the Transportation-Treasury bill is the
direction of the contracting out program under Office of Management and Budget Circular
A-76. Both the House and Senate versions of that bill contain language that effectively
would bar use of the revisions that OMB issued to the circular in 2003. Prominent among
those changes were allowing contracting decisions to be made on grounds other than cost
reasons alone. The Bush administration has opposed all limitations on the policy; during
House consideration it succeeded in getting certain restrictive provisions knocked out,
although the House followed that action by enacting the broader provision. Also,
President Bush already has signed two bills imposing certain restrictions at the Defense
Department, which does most of the government
