Susan Collins: “Competitive sourcing is the process by which the Federal Government conducts a competition to compare the cost of…”

“Competitive sourcing is the process by which the Federal Government conducts a competition to compare the cost of obtaining a needed commercial service from a private sector contractor rather than from Federal employees. Properly conducted, competitive sourcing can be an effective tool to achieve cost savings. Poorly utilized, however, it can increase costs and hurt the morale of the Federal workforce. The current guidelines under which agencies conduct these competitions are contained in the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Circular A-76 (A-76). To ensure that we maximize the benefit and minimize the cost of competitive sourcing, A-76 competition must be conducted in a carefully crafted manner. The rules under which they take place must be fair, objective, transparent, and efficient. In one particular regard, I believe the current rules fail to meet these criteria. Specifically, they do not allow Federal employees to protest the agency's decisions in an A-76 competition beyond the agency's own internal review processes to the General Accounting Office (GAO).”