Go-Slow Signals Sent on Performance Pay, A-76

The Obama administration has been urged to halt any pending contracting-out studies under Circular A-76 at DoD and impose a moratorium on any new studies, and also to put on hold “further advancement of any pay for performance measures” and conduct a review of that program as well. The letters from House leaders in effect target two of the main personnel programs that Obama inherited from the Bush administration. The letter on A-76 says that many of DoD’s A-76 studies “have dragged on far beyond” the time limits set in A-76, creating an “unfair strain” on the employees whose jobs are at stake, as well on the bidding contractors. It also says a freeze is merited in light of the recent presidential directive to review what types of jobs should be subject to such studies. The request came from the chair of the House Armed Services Committee and the chair of the readiness subcommittee. If the White House does not act administratively, the letter could be a signal of an intent to put limiting language in the annual DoD authorization bill that the committee will start writing in the weeks ahead. A government-wide moratorium on new studies through the rest of this fiscal year was included in a recent spending bill and a similar ban might be written into an upcoming appropriations bill.