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"The Obama administration is planning to use the government's enormous buying power to prod private companies to improve wages and benefits for millions of workers, according to White House officials and several interest groups briefed on the plan."  Business leaders are skeptical and see a big-labor bias...

Read more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/business/26procure.html?th&emc=th

A congressional panel charged with examining defense acquisitions reform heard from academics and former federal employees that the current negative environment around government contracting makes it difficult to attract experienced, skilled professionals to the field.  They were cautioned that the quality of the federal acquisitions workforce is the key to effective contracting and oversight.

Read the full story here:

The administration is considering a plan that would give preference to bidders on federal contracts that practice employment policies "inspired by organized labor."  Examples include paying a "living wage" and providing health benefits.  Concerns have been raised about the impact on small business and potential increases in the cost of procurement.  Read more here:

The President's FY11 budget (released on Feb 1st) emphasizes the Defense Department's move to readiness for irregular, guerrilla warfare which will increase spending on helicopters, drone aircraft and Special Ops units -- trying to prepare the military to prevail in areas like Afghanistan.  The State Department's budget reflects the shift in Iraq from a military to civilian presence.  The Department of Homeland Security allocation comes close to "pulling the plug" on the border fence and shifts resources to modernizing Air Traffic Control from groun

In response to a GAO report stating that, collectively, contractors to the Federal government owe $5 billion in delinquent taxes, President Obama has issued a memorandum directing the IRS to review procedures and ensure that companies bidding on U.S. contracts are not in arrears.  The IRS Commissioner is also to develop a plan that would prevent contractors in delinquency from renewing existing agreements.  Read the full memo here:

On December 19th, the FY10 Department of Defense Acquisitions bill became Public Law 111-118 under President Obama's signature. See the summary of the bill here:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR03326:@@@D&summ2=m&

On Tuesday, House and Senate negotiators reached agreement on the omnibus bill that includes 6 appropriations bills, including the Transportation -HUD bill and Commerce-Justice-Science.

Read the article here:
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=44203&dcn=todaysnews

Read the Conference reports here:
http://www.rules.house.gov/announcement_details.aspx?NewsID=4520

There is considerable discussion on Capitol Hill about how to pass the seven remaining FY10 appropriations bills before the current continuing resolution expires on December 18th.  One plan currently being discussed would pass them in two parts, separating the Defense bill from the rest of the appropriations.  Other initiatives may "catch a ride" with the appropriation legislation including a jobs creation bill, a bill to raise the debt limit and others.  Read the GovExec full article here:  http:/

In a period of rescission and restructuring, a recent decision by President Obama to increase the Department of Defense budget by $60 billion dollars gives that department the opportunity to continue its modernization efforts.  On May 14, 2009, Dr. Robert Gates stated to the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon required a 2 percent annual budget increase above inflation to meet the Pentagon's five-year investment plan.