Campaign Promises

Other/Miscellaneous -> Independent Organizations -> OMB
Item	Independent Organizations
OMB		Grade
IO-62	The Promise: "...will reform federal contracting and reduce the number of contractors, saving $40 billion a year." When/Where: Obama and Biden's Plan for America: "Blueprint for Change," dated 10/09/08 Source: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/550007-barack-obama-2008-blueprint-for-change.html Status:Implementation of the reform called for in this promise would likely be an action for OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP). On 03/04/09, President Obama ordered a government-wide review of federal contracting practices with a view to increasing competition and accountability. He repeated his 09/08 promise that federal contracting reform would save $40B per year. His memorandum was published in the Federal Register in the same timeframe. Understanding that government contracting reform must also come from within, President Obama instituted the "Securing American Value and Efficiency" (SAVE) Award program in CY2009, which over the ensuing three years produced over 75,000 cost-cutting ideas from federal workers among which dozens were included in the President's subsequent annual budget proposals. Contracting reform, however, required supporting legislation. On 05/06/10, Senator Russ Feingold introduced the "Federal Contracting Oversight and Reform Act of 2010" (S. 3323) that sought to bring more transparency to the government contracting process. On 07/13/10, Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced H.R. 5726, also entitled the "Federal Contracting Oversight and Reform Act of 2010." Neither of the above bills were acted upon beyond preliminary committee review by the time the 111th Congress expired at the end of CY2010. No exact or near-exact replica of the above bills was introduced during the 112th Congress, except for purpose-specific contracting reform bills (i.e. "Comprehensive Contingency Contracting Reform Act" (S. 3286) or "Overseas Contractor Reform Act" (H.R. 3588), etc.). Both of these bills expired with the 112th Congress at the end of CY2012 anyway. With the 03/09 issuance of a Presidential Memorandum to the heads of relevant agencies and departments, President Obama took initial steps toward promise fulfillment. This promise would have been considered as fulfilled if appropriate legislation had been signed into law. While federal contracting during his two terms decreased somewhat, his stated $40B per year goal was not met. This promise was not fulfilled.	0.00