Defense Outsourcing: The OMB Circular A-76 Policy
Abstract
This report provides information on the Office of Management and Budget s (OMB) Circular A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities, and the impact of a related reform initiative, the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) of 1998, within the Department of Defense (DOD). The Circular defines federal policy for determining whether recurring commercial activities should be transferred to performance by the private sector, or performed by federal government employees. The FAIR Act creates statutory reporting requirements for federal executive agencies, by requiring federal executive agencies to identify activities both inherently governmental and those not inherently governmental, and to conduct managed competitions to determine who is best to perform the service. Competitive sourcing, through managed competitions, was a major initiative identified by the first Bush Administration s Presidential Management Agenda, and one of five governmentwide initiatives to improve the management and performance of the federal government. It is likely that competitive sourcing will continue to serve as a major initiative in the second Bush Administration. Despite the fact that DOD has substantially downsized its force structure after the end of the Cold War, operations and support cost have not been proportionately reduced. In order to achieve greater reductions, and as part of its Defense Reform Initiative, DOD announced that 229,000 positions would be opened to managed competition; by FY2005, some 237,000 jobs. Historically, DOD has set the pace as the lead federal agency in using OMB Circular A-76 cost comparison studies as a tool for managing competition for federal contracts.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 10, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA435315
Entities
People
- Valerie B. Grasso
Organizations
- Defense Acquisition University