Inherently Governmental Functions: At a Tipping Point?
Source: Allan V. Burmans, The Public Manager (subscription req.), Spring 2008
More than 15 years ago, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Office of Federal Procurement Policy issued Policy Letter 92-1, Subject: Inherently Governmental Functions. This 1992 document offered the first government-wide guidance to help executive branch officers and employees avoid making "an unacceptable transfer of official responsibility to government contractors." Implemented in Subpart 7.5 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the policy has remained relatively unchanged since its issuance. Even the comptroller general's 2003 Commercial Activities Panel proposed no significant adjustments to this guidance as the panel addressed the merits and procedures for contracting out government work.
However, as more and more reports question the government's reliance on contractors for activities ranging from providing security services in Iraq to overseeing another contractor's performance, is it time for another look? This article asks whether the policy still holds up. Has the government reached a "tipping point" regarding an overreliance on contractors, as suggested by Charles Tiefer in Government Executive magazine? What was the reason for putting it in place back then? Do changed circumstances today require the government to rethink the policy, pulling back from the level of discretion afforded by this earlier document? And if so, how should that be done?