Senators to Grill Agencies Over Insourcing, Outsourcing Practices
March 28, 2012
A Senate panel wants to hear how federal agencies justify spending billions on contractors without properly weighing the costs.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, chairwoman of the contracting oversight subcommittee, and ranking member Rob Portman, R-Ohio, asked officials from five federal agencies to explain how they determine if using contractors is cost-effective and what they do to account for contractor compensation, overhead and costs associated with contract management and oversight.
The Defense Department, for example, was unable to report how many contractors were replaced in 2010 when the department created nearly 17,000 new government civilian positions to perform previously contracted services, committee members noted in their letter to agencies.