What's New
After years of widespread waste, fraud, and abuse that has cost taxpayers billions, Congress and the Obama administration are finally getting serious about fixing federal contracting.
President Barack Obama has ordered a government-wide review of the contracting process for all federal agencies this summer in order to restore competition, transparency, and accountability and to ensure that contracts are awarded based on merit rather than nepotism and political ties.
Earlier this year, Congress overwhelmingly passed and the President signed into law the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act to bring greater accountability for taxpayer dollars to the Department of Defense. This new law included strong language around conducting independent cost assessments, preventing those who recommend an expensive new system from building it and clamping down on those who try to get around the new rules. TexPIRG supported the strongest possible language on these topics, and joined with a diverse group of partners to that end in sending a letter to leaders in Congress. The acquisition process is just one aspect of federal contracting that we’ll address in the months to come, so stay tuned.
