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bob7947
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Posts posted by bob7947
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11 minutes ago, C Culham said:
Combined they are in my view the biggest problem by my experience so I am not sure "committes" will be the fix. Why not let the career field itself guide the fix?
Executive Orders. Usually not significat but all the same in the mix too.
The only way that laws can be streamlined and abolished is by Congress itself. That is why you need committees assigned to propose it and to stop new bad laws from getting out of committee. The first competition rule was passed in 1792 so the committees will take years finding all the nonsense. Of course, they would still have to go through the full Congress to get their recommendations passed.
In the end, Congress should state in law what is best for government contracting. It's their responsibility. They shouldn't end up writing unnecessary "design" laws. They should state the goals they want achieved. The "FAR" councils should write regulations to achieve those goals and accomplish the goals through the efforts of the "career filed." Congress, through the committees, would maintain oversight of the work of the "FAR" councils and the "career field" in achieving the goals it sets."
Executive Orders are a different thing. However, they are more general and the future "FAR Councils" will write the regulations for them. The Councils can work within the Executive branch to work out the regulatory details.
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The Federal Acquisition Regulations System is established for the codification and publication of uniform policies and procedures for acquisition by all executive agencies. The Federal Acquisition Regulations System consists of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which is the primary document, and agency acquisition regulations that implement or supplement the FAR.
The item above is from Subpart 1.1 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in case anyone is new to Federal Contracting.
This week The Coalition for Government Procurement has a blog entry called Happy 40th Birthday to the FAR, but has it Gone too FAR? I think it is important to read it and see the mess you are given that directs much of your work.
In the article the Coalition talks about appointing a FAR champion to fix it. That won't work because that would be treating the symptom and not the disease. The DISEASE is the United States Congress and its committees that have jurisdiction over each and every one of the government agencies. If they have jurisdiction over a goverment agency they have juridiction over the agency's contracting even if they have no idea about government contracting. That's ridiculous.
Here's my opening salvo to the contracting mess of laws, GAO decisions, and court opinions. When you look at the FAR, remember, it is based on laws, GAO decisions, court opinions and who knows what else.
- Create one Senate and one House committee that have complete jurisdiction of all government contracting laws and regulations. And that is all they do.
- Each of those two committees creates a subcommittee dedicated to reviewing ALL contracting laws for the purpose of streamlining or abolishing them.
- Each of those two committees creates a subcommittee with total jurisdiction over defense contracting and a subcommittee with total jurisdiction over civilian agency contracting.
After the laws have been dealt with the FAR system can be overhauled. There no longer will be title VIII 8s of the National Defense Authorization Acts since the Armed Services Committees will not have jurisdiction over any contracting.
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There is a list of rules posted.
Quote16. Abbreviations are to be kept to a minimum--preferably none at all--so that others can interpret a post and respond to it intelligently.
I searched for NAVSUPINST 4200.99D and could not find it using Google.
GPC? Government Purchase Card?
Green Procurement Compilation?
CH??????
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If you think this COFC opinion is interesting, did you look at different parts of it to understand the subject matter?
Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust, No. 23-192 C, March 19, 2024.
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This topic is subject to Rule 17. The OP needs to respond to others' questions by Friday or it will be locked.
Quote17. Original posters must not disappear after they post a question. Disappearing makes it impossible to provide clarifications of the original post so that others may respond intelligently. It is normal for the original poster to be asked for clarification. The Orginal Poster has 5 calendar days after the original post to answer any questions. After that, the Topic will be locked.
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I had forgotten how dificult doing this analysis was/is. However, I finished it about an hour ago. It appears at
Analysis of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024
It now sits with the other NDAAs since 2002 (with the exception of FY 23)
here:
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This procurement drew a crowd of protesters and a 108 page COFC opinion.
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S. 3626: Conforming Procedures for Federal Task and Delivery Order Contracts Act of 2024 is intended to clarify task and delivery order solicitation and contract requirements.
This Senate bill was recently introduced and probably won't be enacted as a stand-alone act. If it gets anywhere, it most likely will be stuffed into the next NDAA
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Possibly the most complete handbooks are from DoD. There are others. You may want to check NASA too.
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In accordance with Rule 17, this topic will be locked unless the OP reappears.
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This topic is being closed due to no response from the OP, in accordance with . . .
17. Original posters must not disappear after they post a question. Disappearing makes it impossible to provide clarifications of the original post so that others may respond intelligently. It is normal for the original poster to be asked for clarification. The Orginal Poster has 5 calendar days after the original post to answer any questions. After that, the Topic will be locked.
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I will keep this topic open for a little time to see if the original poster comes back. If not, I will delete the topic.
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In two recent articles, Ralph Nash and Vern looked into whether the process of competitive negotiation (source selection) “works” to encourage firms to do business with the Government. See Our Competitive System: Does It Work?, 36 NCRNL ¶ 70, and Postscript II: Our Competitive System, 38 NCRNL¶ 3. They think the process is cumbersome, takes too long, and is too expensive. In Postscript II, they argued that the competitive system (rules and procedures) is badly designed and maladapted to present circumstances. In this article, they want to show, by way of example, that the system is worse when the bad design is poorly executed.
See POSTSCRIPT III: OUR COMPETITIVE SYSTEM by Vernon J. Edwards.
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This bill was introduced on January 18, 2024. Unfortunately, the bill hasn't been posted yet. That is why you don't see it yet. It should be posted by the end of the week. Check here.
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Thanks Retread. Quite often all an agency needs is to be reminded.
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It is now more than half way through the month of January 2024 and the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) has not checked in, paid for itself, or something or other. This is not out of the ordinary for a U. S. government site. Many of the government sites that I use to post contracting information have not issued anything since December 2023 or earlier than that.
Here is what I currently get when I try to access the ASBCA.
If you find the ASBCA, please let me know by posting it here. Thankyou.
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I was late in approving this account. Could anyone help the original poster?
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(a) Sealed bids. (See part 14 for procedures.) Contracting officers shall solicit sealed bids if-
(1) Time permits the solicitation, submission, and evaluation of sealed bids;
(2) The award will be made on the basis of price and other price-related factors;
(3) It is not necessary to conduct discussions with the responding offerors about their bids; and
(4) There is a reasonable expectation of receiving more than one sealed bid.
Jamaal:
I remember trying to find the first instance of that line being used in the FAR, FPR or ASPR. If I remember correctly, it was a cut and paste job from the predecessors of the FAR to the FAR.
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Superior alleges that this procurement must be trashed and started over because the Army’s contracting officer botched a required unbalanced-pricing analysis.
I'm running late and I haven't had a chance to read this protest. If you have time, give it a try. Superior Waste Management v U. S., No. 23-1319C, January 8, 2024.
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This topic is closed but a poster pointed this out.
https://www.wbdg.org/ffc/dod/unified-facilities-guide-specifications-ufgs
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4 hours ago, Vern Edwards said:
As I will demonstrate next month in a follow-up to the article Bob has posted here, no grandiose "renaissance" will improve the competitive system until working level folks focus on what's happening closer to home. Don't expect anything from the high-level folks. Every majorr reform has failed, including, as you will see, commercial items (products and services).
By the way, I am in New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, for the 2024 annual 25-hour Moby Dick Marathon Reading. We set sail and the First Watch begins Saturday, at 12:00pm, and the Sixth (and final) Watch ends at 1:00pm on Sunday. People have come from all over to pay tribute to Herman Melville's great masterpiece. I am scheduled to read (with a big magnifying glass) during the Third Watch, at about 11:00pm on Saturday. I made it through the who thing without sleeping during last year's Marathon, and I I plan to do it again. And then the great shroud of the sea will roll on until next year.
"It is not down on any map; true places never are."
It may not be a Perfect Storm but your reading could be during a Nor'easter if the storm forms properly. If it forms, I hope it doesn't match The Storm of the Century. (I can't help myself.)
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7 hours ago, Jamaal Valentine said:
Defense Acquisition University offers “a generalized order of events in the acquisition contracting process.” It looks more like an island-hopping campaign through FAR.
Click here: Contracting Subway Map
Also, the Department of the Army uses a similar tool called Contracting Compass. It doesn’t indicate a chronological arrangement to FAR either.
Hopefully these tools will be useful to some readers. Thanks for the participation!
Comparing the subway (from the article) as "a generalized order of events in the acquisition contracting process" is a terrible idea. I still remember Metro Center in the D. C. Metro. Three levels of crazies running up the steps and down the steps to meet in the middle and running into each other while trying to squeeze into an open subway door before it closed. It was always a near death experience.
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Over the years, I have used the FAR's order to set up pages on this site. That hasn't been easy all the time. However, I wasn't using it to manage actions within the contracting process. That may be more troubling.
After about 50 years, there is no single Federal Acquisition Regulation nor System. As Vern and I have discussed here there is a Defense Contracting Regulation, Other Agency Contracting Regulations, and the "Balkanized" Agency Contracting Regulations, eg., FAA. I used Balkanized from Nash and Cibinic.
I am in the process of seting up Wifcon.com's analysys of the NDAA for FY 2024--the "annual congressional perfections" to what is referred to as the FAR. I'll probably be done by this weekend. There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of congressional perfections added to the FAR System. I've got some good news. There are less new requirements in Title VIII. However, there are more "Legislative Proposals Not Adopted" than before. The NDAA became law just days ago. Apparently, the "perfectors" wanted to get home and couldn't find places in time for all the junk (LPNAs).
Section 802 is "Modification of truthful cost or pricing data submissions and report." I guess there is always room for congressional perfection.
Global K9 Protection Group LLC, vs. U. S. and American K-9 Detection Services, Nos. 23-210, 23-311, April 11, 2024.
in Proposed Law & Regulations; Legal Decisions
Posted
Global K9 Protection Group LLC, vs. U. S. and American K-9 Detection Services, Nos. 23-210, 23-311, April 11, 2024.
The Long and Winding Road
Now, after four years, two remands with related remand extensions,1 two formal re-solicitations,2 two injunctions,3 three re-awards splitting the contract into two procurements,4 and approximately 34 total dog years,5 this case has finally reached its end.
Judge Ryan T. Holte
There is a companion opinion on the Home Page.