PENA: Overspending Due to Mission Creep
February 20, 2012
The latest fad for cutting federal government spending is slashing the number of private-sector contractors. You remember, the government contractors who were hired because they'd be more efficient than using the government's own workers to do the same jobs.
It turns out that the latest studies show private contractors often end up costing more than government employees for the same work. But will switching out one set of workers for another actually cut spending? Not likely.
The federal government now spends about $320 billion a year on service contracts, or about 10 percent of total federal spending, according to the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight (POGO).