More news on the contracting front this week (in addition to Craig's post earlier today). The House Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement held a hearing on the status of government contracting reform (here's a Government Executive article summarizing the hearing). Contracing expert and all around good guy Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, testified during the hearing on efforts to bring more competition, oversight, and transparency to the contracting process.

You can read his excellent testimony to the committee regarding a number of pending pieces of legislation as well as the recommendations of the Federal Acquisition Advisory Panel on POGO's website.

The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing yesterday on defense contracting. It turns out that at least one contractor in Iraq - one receiving hundreds of billions of dollars from the government - is slightly less than "cost effective."

[Sen. Byron] Dorgan said a lower-level employee of KBR, which has received hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts for services in Iraq, told him that he had been ordered to put the company's logo on towels being furnished to troops, even though it could triple the cost. The unnamed employee said he was told the price did not matter because "it was a cost-plus contract," Dorgan said, waving a white towel embossed with a large KBR emblem.

That should chap your hide - well, not so much if you're a KBR shareholder. But, as much as one might be a staunch believer in the power of privatization, one should be suspicious of the conduct of contractors operating without proper oversight and transparency - oversight and transparency that the Webb-McCaskill commission will attempt to bring to bear on wartime contracting. And oddly, President Bush hopes to quash the commission before it begins it work.

Readers may recall that last month we wrote about a no-bid contract worth between $28 million and $52 million former Attorney General John Ashcroft's firm received to oversee a court settlement. The contract was awarded by a former employee of Mr. Ashcroft - New Jersey's US Attorney Christopher Christie.

Recognizing the potential of an impropriety, the House Judiciary Committee has decided to hold hearings to determine the appropriateness of such a reward. ThinkProgres, however, notes that Christie is now refusing to testify in front of the committee until the Bush Administration asks him to do so.

This morning, the New York Times published a fantastic article by Scott Shane and Ron Nixon about how contractors are taking over huge parts of the federal government. The article, "In Washington, Contractors Take On Biggest Role Ever," is the first in a series of articles by the Times that will investigate government contracting. And rightly so.

Outsourcing of government jobs, services, and product development has more than doubled in the last 6 years - a staggering growth rate. The article in today's paper shows, contrary to popular belief, that contractors often end up costing the government more money than it would otherwise spend, with inflated hourly wages ($104 per hour in one example from the article), poor performance and management, and little oversight or accountability from government employees.

Scott and Nixon profile problems at the General Services Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, among other agencies, as case examples of following poor contracting practices and making wasteful decisions that have squandered billions of taxpayer dollars while enriching private companies. In fact, one study cited in the article concluded the explosion of contracting "poses a threat to the government's long-term ability to perform its mission" and could "undermine the integrity of the government's decision making."

The entire article is worth reading and does a great job summarizing some major concerns about the current contracting environment. I'm looking forward to the rest of the articles in the series and my only hope at this point is that every member of Congress will read the articles as well.

Two stories this morning that bookend contracting scandals we've been following over the past few months. First, wrapping up an extensive bribery scandal, the Washington Post reports former Defense contractor Brent Wilkes, who was convicted in November of 13 felony crimes including bribery, conspiracy and fraud for giving gifts to former representative Randy 'Duke' Cunningham (R-CA), was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.

And second, opening up what might be another front in the post-Katrina contracting scandals, the Associated Press reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency "misspent millions of dollars it received from selling used travel trailers" using the funds for "tree-removal services, agency decals and banners and global positioning systems" instead of returning the funds to the U.S.. Treasury, as required by law. The news article is based on a Homeland Security Inspector General's report to be released this Friday.