Provisions Could Be Controversial

According to the analysis, competitions that involve work performed by contractors "are rare. Most public-private competitions involve work performed by agency employees. Opponents of the proposed revision may maintain that the feasibility, and hence the implications (of the proposed change) are unclear. The requirement to consider using federal employees for new functions and for functions currently being performed by contractors might be affected by, for example, the availability of resources. That is, an agency might not have sufficient personnel to staff the new function, and it might not be able to obtain additional personnel." It said that a moratorium on new studies involving work that is currently in-house "could provide, for example, an opportunity for reviewing the definition of ‘inherently governmental’; gathering data on the disposition of federal employees whose work was outsourced; or conducting an independent study of the savings and costs associated with public-private competitions. Opponents of this provision may assert that the moratorium might adversely affect the amount of savings that results from completed competitions."