More Troubles For GSA

The General Services Administration (GSA) has been in the headlines for a number of reasons during the past week. And none of the reports are good.

In one story, the Justice Department is investigating allegations that Sun Microsystems was overbilling the government for software and technical support through a contract that senior GSA officials pushed to renew last year. Key to that story is the fact that GSA takes a piece of every sale made to the government.

In another, GSA administrator Lurita Doan is facing allegations that she violated the Hatch Act, a law limiting political activity in the government. Doan allegedly participated in a meeting about the results of the 2006 midterm election, prospects for the 2008 elections and how the agency could help Republication candidates.

And so it goes. Putting Sun's actions aside for the sake of this blog at least, these incidents have the potential to be the final nails in the GSA's coffin. No, the agency won't go anywhere -- that's not really a possibility. But certainly its significance will diminish even more than it already has in the past couple of years.

The fact that procurement vehicles offered by other federal agencies are gaining momentum is not a coincidence. Industry and government alike are frustrated and looking for alternatives.

At the XChange Government Integrator conference in May, a panel of GSA representatives led by Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) commissioner Jim Williams talked a lot of recovery. The agency was looking hard at processes, the panel said, and making changes to improve how contractors worked with agencies. Looks like it has some work ahead.