The new bill language does not specifically reference the A-76 process but includes similar provisions. Image: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA defense spending bill approved by a House Appropriations Committee calls for a return of the “OMB Circular A-76” process for considering federal jobs to be contracted-out to the private sector, a process once in wide use but that has been blocked by annual appropriations bills since late in the Bush administration
Annual appropriations bills since then have contained language specifically barring those studies due to concerns about loss of in-house expertise and loss of control over the work and cost overruns once the work was farmed out to contractors. Emphasis on the program, which dates back many decades, rose and fell in the time before the moratorium was imposed, with Republican administrations putting more emphasis on it; federal employee unions and many Democrats in Congress meanwhile strongly opposed it.
The new bill language—which has a long way to go before it could become law—does not specifically reference the A-76 process but includes key provisions, including mechanisms for comparing in-house costs vs. contractor bids, rights of employees who lose their jobs, and more.
That language also would apply only to DoD but that department has the bulk of the “commercial” type federal jobs and government-wide language could be added to the general government measure, as well; several House GOP leaders earlier had signaled their interest in reviving that process.
The general government bill further could become the vehicle for their views on other workplace policy matters, such as limiting telework. In addition, that bill will represent their best opportunity to take a position on a January 2024 federal employee pay raise.
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