House Panel Critical of Contracting

In a counterpart letter House Oversight and Government Reform Committee criticized many of the personnel and other government management initiatives of the White House, for example saying that recently enacted restrictions on the contracting-out program "such as requiring formal competitions when more than ten employees are affected and prohibiting private sector firms from benefiting because they do not offer health benefits should be expanded not repealed, as the administration’s budget proposes . . . Even more disconcerting is that federal agencies may be increasingly contracting out inherently governmental functions because they are under pressure from OMB to meet certain competition targets under the President’s management agenda. Federal agencies should only engage in public-private competitions when it is evident they are in the best interest of the public and will save taxpayer dollars."