FederalDaily.com > Senate Examines Heavy Reliance on Contractors at DHS

FederalDaily - October 18, 2007

Senate Examines Heavy Reliance on Contractors at DHS

A Senate committee on Oct. 17 heard testimony addressing concerns that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has become too dependent on contractors in performing its mission. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, noted in his opening statement that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)—in language that creates a sometimes hard to distinguish line—“prohibits inherently governmental work from being performed by contractors,” but allows “contractors to perform work that ‘closely supports inherently governmental work.’” Lieberman said the FAR nonetheless clearly states that government must be in charge of creating agency procurement policy and regulations. In the case of DHS procurement activities, Lieberman said, a recent inquiry by the Government Accountability Office “leads us to question whether DHS is really in control of these activities, or whether the Department has been rubber-stamping too many decisions made by contractors.” The senator said that the heavy reliance of DHS on contractors “raises the risk that DHS is not creating the institutional knowledge needed to be able to judge whether contractors are performing as they should and could be vulnerable to overcharging,” as well as “the risk that DHS will lose control over its own decision making.” To see more, go to: http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=491.

Lawmakers Write Gates Over Pay Implications of NSPS

Three senior House lawmakers are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to make sure the implementation of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) doesn’t erase across-the-board cost-of-living increases promised to some DoD employees. Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., Frank Wolf, R-Va., and James Moran, D-Va., said they were concerned over whether NSPS will prevent some DoD employees from receiving the 2008 government-wide pay and cost-of-living increase. “We have been contacted by numerous constituents gravely concerned about a recent announcement that they will not be receiving the across-the-board pay raise with other federal employees due to their transfer into (the) National Security Personnel System,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter last week. DoD said that, under NSPS, some employees will receive half of the 2008 pay increase as an adjustment to their base salary and the other half distributed in performance pay pools. The lawmakers noted that employees were promised that during the first year of NSPS they would at least receive their base pay increase. To see more, go to: www.federaldaily.com/news/Robert_Gates_Letter_October_101.pdf

Border Patrol Agents Assaulted, Six Suspects Arrested

Texas Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol (BP) agents on Oct. 15 arrested six suspected illegal immigrants after they tried to ram a BP patrol vehicle during a routine stop. No serious injuries were sustained. The agents spotted a truck that had been reported stolen and attempted to stop the vehicle near San Manuel, Texas. As the BP vehicle pulled behind the suspect truck, the driver slowed as if to stop, but instead threw the truck in reverse and proceeded to ram the rear bumper of the truck into the BP sedan, officials said in a statement. The driver then fled north in an attempt to escape and eventually abandoned the truck a short distance away. BP agents arrested six suspected aliens that were being transported in the truck, but the driver was able to get away and is still being sought, officials said. “As the Rio Grande Valley Sector gains operational control of our area with additional personnel, technology and infrastructure, the level of violence onto Border Patrol agents will rise, said BP Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Ronald Vitiello. To see more, go to: www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/10162007_2.xml.