Recommendation: The Director of DLA should include a step for the opportunity for PCR review of the proposed contract and subcontracting plan in agency procedures and memorandums, and develop a mechanism for documenting whether the opportunity for PCR review was provided. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Defense Logistics Agency
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Navy should include a step for the opportunity for PCR review of the proposed contract and subcontracting plan in agency procedures and memorandums, and develop a mechanism for documenting whether the opportunity for PCR review was provided. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of DLA should take steps to fulfill the requirement that contracting officers ensure that subcontracting reports are submitted by contractors in a timely manner. For example, the agency could require contracting officers to verify that prior reports were submitted when reviewing current submissions. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense: Defense Logistics Agency
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The NASA Administrator should take steps to fulfill the requirement that contracting officers ensure that subcontracting reports are submitted by contractors in a timely manner. For example, the agency could require contracting officers to verify that prior reports were submitted when reviewing current submissions. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Navy should take steps to fulfill the requirement that contracting officers ensure that subcontracting reports are submitted by contractors in a timely manner. For example, the agency could require contracting officers to verify that prior reports were submitted when reviewing current submissions. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of DLA should take steps to ensure contracting officers compare subcontracting goals in contractor report submissions to goals in the approved subcontracting plan and address any discrepancies. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Defense: Defense Logistics Agency
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the GSA should take steps to ensure contracting officers compare subcontracting goals in contractor report submissions to goals in the approved subcontracting plan and address any discrepancies. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: General Services Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The NASA Administrator should take steps to ensure contracting officers compare subcontracting goals in contractor report submissions to goals in the approved subcontracting plan and address any discrepancies. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Navy should take steps to ensure contracting officers compare subcontracting goals in contractor report submissions to goals in the approved subcontracting plan and address any discrepancies. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The SBA Administrator should ensure Commercial Market Representatives clearly and consistently document compliance reviews and maintain these records. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Small Business Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to, in coordination with the Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management, develop a risk-based approach for reviewing service requirements—through the Procurement Strategy Roadmap or other means—to ensure proposed service requirements are clearly defined and reviewed before planning how they are to be procured. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS disagreed with our recommendation, preferring to maintain the status quo in its policy and procedures. However, by doing so, DHS is missing important opportunities to prevent negative acquisition outcomes and the potential for wasted resources. In its response, DHS noted its processes for major acquisitions, however, DHS service programs and contracts did not rise to the level of being classified a major service acquisition.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to document the factors the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer considers when waiving procurement actions from its Procurement Strategy Roadmap to ensure it is consistently considering potential acquisition risks in its planning—including those specific to services. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS did not concur with this recommendation, maintaining that the factors considered when waiving a Procurement Strategy Roadmap are not static. We believe, however, that documenting the factors considered will help ensure that the decisions to waive the Procurement Strategy Roadmaps are made consistently, transparently, and help maintain institutional knowledge.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to update the Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions Analysis to require the identification of special interest functions. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will update the Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions Analysis job aid to require the identification of a special interest function when applicable.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to update the Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions Analysis to provide guidance for analyzing, documenting, and updating the federal workforce needed to perform or oversee service contracts requiring heightened management attention. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS did not concur with this recommendation maintaining that the components are certifying that they have sufficient internal capacity or federal employees available for oversight within the Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions Analysis. We continue to believe, however, that without guidance, each component is making its own determination about which factors to consider, and DHS does not know how or whether the components are considering the federal workforce available to oversee service contracts in need of heightened management attention, or what steps, if any, the components are taking to mitigate risks if there are not enough federal personnel available to oversee the contracts after award.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to develop guidance identifying oversight tasks or safeguards personnel can perform, when needed, to mitigate the risk associated with contracts containing closely associated with inherently governmental functions, special interest functions, or critical functions. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will develop guidance that identifies oversight tasks or safeguards that personnel can perform, when needed, to mitigate the risk associated with contracts containing closely associated with inherently governmental, special interest, or critical functions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Financial Officer to work with Congress to identify information to include in its annual congressional budget justifications to provide greater transparency into requested and actual service requirement costs, particularly for those services requiring heightened management attention. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS did not concur with this recommendation stating that its annual Congressional Budget Justification already contains substantial service contract information. We maintain, however, that the service contract information currently included limits visibility for both DHS and Congress into requested and actual service requirements costs.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the F-35 Program Executive Officer, develops a program-wide process for measuring, collecting, and tracking information on how ALIS is affecting the performance of the F-35 fleet to include, but not be limited to, its effects on mission capability rates. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the F-35 Program Executive Officer, develops and implements a strategy for the re-design of ALIS. The strategy should be detailed enough to clearly identify and assess the goals, key risks or uncertainties, and costs of re-designing the system. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Program Director for Financial Integration, with input from NNSA's Office of Management and Budget and respective program offices, should establish and implement a work breakdown structure change control process for common financial reporting that ensures changes are approved by program office management, at a minimum; documented; and communicated to M&O contractors on a timely basis. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with the recommendation and officials said they are working to establish a work breakdown structure change control process by June 30, 2020.

Recommendation: The Program Director for Financial Integration should assess the extent to which M&O contractors make manual changes to their financial data to reconcile with STARS and determine whether it has an effect on the accuracy of the data collected for common financial reporting. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with the recommendation and plans to review how management and operating (M&O) contractors make manual changes to their financial data as part of an ongoing review of M&O contractors indirect cost data. The review is expected to be completed by September 30, 2020.

Recommendation: The Program Director for Financial Integration should develop and implement an internal process for NNSA to verify how the M&O contractors crosswalk financial data from their systems to the appropriate NNSA work breakdown structure to ensure the reported data are accurate and consistent. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with the recommendation and plans to establish a process to verify that the management and operating (M&O) contractors are crosswalking their financial data to the appropriate NNSA work breakdown structure by September 30, 2020. As of April 2020, NNSA has hired two federal employees who will be conducting site visits to work with M&O contractors on verifying their crosswalks.

Recommendation: The Program Director for Financial Integration should develop and implement an internal process for NNSA to verify that the M&O contractors are consistently applying common cost element definitions at their sites and across the nuclear security enterprise. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with the recommendation and plans to establish a process to verify that the management and operating (M&O) contractors are consistently applying common cost element definitions at their sites and across the nuclear security enterprise by September 30, 2020. As of April 2020, NNSA has hired two federal employees who will be conducting site visits to work with M&O contractors on verifying their crosswalks.

Recommendation: The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) (OUSD[C]) should include an assessment of risks related to contractor ownership as part of its ongoing efforts to plan and conduct a department-wide fraud risk assessment. As part of this assessment, consistent with leading practices, DOD should involve relevant stakeholders with knowledge of emerging risks and use this information to help inform other types of risk assessments across the department, including for national security concerns. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Associate Administrator for Acquisition and Project Management should report information on all professional SSCs to which funds were obligated during the fiscal year in its annual congressional budget justification materials. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA concurred with our recommendation and agreed to update its methodology for the fiscal year 2021 budget justification materials in an effort to ensure that contracts are counted accurately. Based on our review of the contracts listed in the budget justification materials, NNSA inappropriately excluded six contracts from its fiscal year 2021 congressional budget justification reporting. GAO is following up with NNSA officials to determine why these contracts were excluded.

Recommendation: The Associate Administrator for Acquisition and Project Management should collect and report all required data regarding the number of FTE contractor personnel employed under an SSC for more than 2 years. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA concurred in principle with the recommendation and planned to meet with congressional staff to discuss ways to further enhance the reported data before the 2021 budget materials were prepared. NNSA provided additional information in its fiscal year 2021 budget justification explaining that it did not have access to the information needed to report information to report required data regarding the number of FTE contractor personnel employed under an support service contract for more than 2 years. We will continue to follow-up on NNSA's progress in collecting and reporting the required data.

Recommendation: The Associate Administrator for Acquisition and Project Management should report in NNSA's annual congressional budget justification materials the program appropriations account—Weapons Activities or Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation—used to fund each SSC and total the amounts obligated by appropriations account. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA concurred with the recommendation and included in the fiscal year 2021 budget justification materials additional information on the fund value and description in the table of support service contracts. However, NNSA did not total the amounts for each appropriation account. As a result, information on the total amounts of each appropriation account is not as transparent as it could be to assist Congress for planning purposes. GAO is following up with agency officials to identify any additional actions planned to close the recommendation.

Recommendation: The Associate Administrator for Acquisition and Project Management should take steps to ensure that contracting officers document—in the required determination form or elsewhere in the contract file—information on the steps that the contracting officers plan to take to oversee SSCs that NNSA has determined to be at high risk of including inherently governmental functions. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In its comments on a draft of this report, NNSA stated that it considers the recommendation closed based on processes already in place, as well as the complementary activities discussed in response to our sixth recommendation. We continue to believe that documenting planned oversight activities in the contract files is important to ensure that planned oversight is consistent throughout the duration of the contract. We will continue to monitor NNSA's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Associate Administrator for Acquisition and Project Management should develop a process to verify that contracting officers are carrying out the steps identified to oversee contracts at risk of including inherently governmental functions throughout the term of the contract. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: NNSA generally agreed with the recommendation. NNSA stated that, among other things, it will review and revise, as necessary, the designation letters for contractor officers' representatives to ensure they clearly address the expectations for daily operational awareness and monitoring for risks associated with high-risk contracts, including those involving activities closely associated with inherently governmental functions. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of ETA should develop, document, and implement a comprehensive strategy that (1) accounts for Job Corps' projected workload requirements and (2) considers its acquisition workforce needs—including the number of staff, skills, and other supports necessary to plan, award, and monitor Job Corps center contracts—to enable it to effectively plan for and competitively award future Job Corps center contracts. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Labor: Employment and Training Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOL stated that it will develop, document, and implement a comprehensive strategy that accounts for Job Corps' projected workload requirements and considers its acquisition workforce needs. DOL noted that it has released a new procurement plan which reflects its decision to re-procure 28 Job Corps centers prior to the final option year of their contract. DOL said that this action would result in each region having no more than five procurements each year, which it considers a manageable procurement workload for its current staffing level. We will consider closing the recommendation when such a comprehensive strategy is implemented.

Recommendation: The Administrator of General Services should ensure that the Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service develops a strategy that outlines the steps needed to routinely collect information on and monitor the time frames for finalizing construction contract changes at the headquarters level. The strategy could address issues such as the types of construction contract changes that should be included, when the measurement of the contract change process should begin, and the information systems that will be affected. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: General Services Administration
Status: Open

Comments: GSA agreed with this recommendation. In September 2019, GSA told us that it will set up a cross functional team with officials from the Public Building Service offices of Acquisitions and Design and Construction, and the GSA Office of Government-wide Policy, to develop a strategic plan to address the recommendation. In July 2020, GSA told us that the final action step for this recommendation was due to be completed on August 31, 2020. We will continue to monitor implementation of this recommendation as we receive more information on steps taken.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Army should direct the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a strategy to expand on existing data and systems to routinely collect information on and monitor the time frames for finalizing construction contract changes at the headquarters level. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Army
Status: Open

Comments: DOD agreed with this recommendation. In July 2020, DOD officials told us that it has developed a corrective action plan to address the recommendation, which is estimated to be completed at the end of August 2020. We will continue to monitor progress once we receive the corrective action plan.

Recommendation: We recommend that the Acting Secretary of Defense direct the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment to ensure it conducts a comprehensive assessment of the effect that its contract financing and profit policies have on the defense industry and update that assessment on a recurring basis. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with the recommendation. The Department stated that it would seek fiscal year 2020 funds to contract a study on DOD contract financing policies and their effect on the defense industry. In September 2020, DOD stated that this action would be completed by December 31, 2021. The first phase of the report is estimated to be completed September 30, 2021. The department secured funds to complete the study and a contract was awarded on April 23, 2020.

Recommendation: The Director of OMB should ensure that information is collected regarding how centralized reporting of procurement requirements might reduce recipient reporting burden—including input from stakeholders such as contractors through an iterative and ongoing process—to inform OMB's planned expansion of the Central Reporting Portal.

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: In an October 2019 written response to the recommendation contained in GAO-19-299, OMB acknowledged the importance of collecting stakeholder input and described some steps that it has taken to do so in the past. The letter also stated OMB's intention to engage key stakeholders moving forward but was not specific regarding steps it planned to take related to the potential expansion of the Central Reporting Portal. GAO will continue to monitor this issue including what specific actions, if any, OMB takes in response to this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Senior Procurement Executive for the Department of the Army should review the contracts we identified as being awarded to contractors that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR § 52.209-11 and (1) determine whether the contracting officer was required to consider the contractor's reported tax debt; if so, (2) determine the reasons controls to identify and refer these contractors to the SDO before contract award did not operate effectively; and (3) design or modify controls to help ensure compliance with applicable regulations. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Army
Status: Open

Comments: Army provided us information on their review of the contracts that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR ? 52.209-11. We are assessing Army's review of these contracts and will provide updated information when we confirm whether the agency's review, and any subsequent actions stemming from its review, are consistent with our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Senior Procurement Executive for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should review the contracts we identified as being awarded to contractors that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR § 52.209-11 and (1) determine whether the contracting officer was required to consider the contractor's reported tax debt; if so, (2) determine the reasons controls to identify and refer these contractors to the SDO before contract award did not operate effectively; and (3) design or modify controls to help ensure compliance with applicable regulations. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS provided us information on their review of the contracts that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR ? 52.209-11. We are assessing HHS's review of these contracts and will provide updated information when we confirm whether the agency's review, and any subsequent actions stemming from its review, are consistent with our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Senior Procurement Executive for the Department of the Army should review the contracts we identified as being awarded to contractors that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR § 52.209-5. Specifically, the Senior Procurement Executive should determine whether each contract value was expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold when the solicitation was issued and, if so, (1) determine the reasons controls to identify and notify the SDO of these contractors before contract award did not operate effectively and (2) design or modify controls to help ensure compliance with applicable regulations. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Army
Status: Open

Comments: Army provided us information on their review of the contracts that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR ? 52.209-5. We are assessing Army's review of these contracts and will provide updated information when we confirm whether the agency's review, and any subsequent actions stemming from its review, are consistent with our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Senior Procurement Executive for the Department of Energy should review the contracts we identified as being awarded to contractors that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR § 52.209-5. Specifically, the Senior Procurement Executive should determine whether each contract value was expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold when the solicitation was issued and, if so, (1) determine the reasons controls to identify and notify the SDO of these contractors before contract award did not operate effectively and (2) design or modify controls to help ensure compliance with applicable regulations. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Energy (DOE) provided us information on their review of the contracts that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR ? 52.209-5. We are assessing the DOE's review of these contracts and will provide updated information when we confirm whether the agency's review, and any subsequent actions stemming from its review, are consistent with our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Senior Procurement Executive for HHS should review the contracts we identified as being awarded to contractors that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR § 52.209-5. Specifically, the Senior Procurement Executive should determine whether each contract value was expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold when the solicitation was issued and, if so, (1) determine the reasons controls to identify and notify the SDO of these contractors before contract award did not operate effectively and (2) design or modify controls to help ensure compliance with applicable regulations. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS provided us information on their review of the contracts that reported qualifying federal tax debt under FAR ? 52.209-5. We are assessing HHS's review of these contracts and will provide updated information when we confirm whether the agency's review, and any subsequent actions stemming from its review, are consistent with our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the General Services Administration should coordinate with the appropriate System for Award Management users, such as agency procurement officials, to identify potential updates to facilitate contracting officers' identification of contractors that report qualifying federal tax debt under the § 52.209-11 representation and § 52.209-5 certification. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: General Services Administration
Status: Open

Comments: GSA concurred with this recommendation and stated it would work with the procurement community to identify potential approaches to draw contracting officers' attention to qualifying federal tax debt information reported by contractors is the System for Award Management under the FAR ? 52.209-5 certification and ? 52.209-11 representation. We will assess these actions after they have been completed.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should evaluate options to obtain comprehensive contract payment data above the existing Federal Procurement Data System–Next Generation (FPDS-NG) reporting threshold of $10,000, including assessing the costs and benefits of changing the current threshold for contracts that agencies are required to report to the IRS through Form 8596 information returns to be consistent with the existing reporting threshold for FPDS-NG, determine whether regulatory revisions are necessary, and change the reporting threshold, if appropriate. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS concurred with this recommendation and stated that it is reviewing the potential benefits and costs that would result from implementing this recommendation. We will assess these actions after they have been completed.

Recommendation: The Director of the DOE Office of Acquisition Management should clearly define—in guidance or other documents—which subcontracts should be audited, how an audit is defined, and how to meet subcontract audit requirements if Defense Contract Audit Agency is unable to conduct the audit.(Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: In its comments on a draft of the report, DOE partially concurred with the recommendation, but stated that there is no government-wide requirement that defines an audit or prescribes the auditing of subcontracts. According to officials, DOE reviewed existing regulations, guidance, and contract provisions on audit requirements and determined that a need exists for additional guidance or contract provisions on audits for major contracts. As of June 2020, DOE was working with the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council to recommend a government-wide requirement to define audit and prescribe when to obtain audits of subcontracts. Additionally, DOE included in its Acquisition Guide information on audit options when the Defense Contract Audit Agency is unable to conduct an audit.

Recommendation: The Director of the DOE Office of Acquisition Management should require local officials to independently review subcontractor ownership information as part of DOE consent reviews and assess potential conflicts of interest to ensure contractors are mitigating them. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: DOE did not concur with our recommendation; instead, they plan to issue guidance emphasizing the importance of contracting officers reviewing contractors' disclosing and dealing with issues created by close working relationships, conflicts of interest, or ownership affiliations between prime and subcontractor. We have identified complex relationships among DOE contractors and subcontractors that were not documented by DOE, as well as incidents involving subcontractors related to conflicts of interest that were not disclosed to DOE. We noted that DOE officials--including those in local offices--have access to several databases and other sources of information that would allow them to independently verify ownership information that could allow the local offices to identify potential conflicts of interest that were not disclosed. In July 2020, DOE issued guidance summarizing and reiterating existing regulations, policy and procedures that require DOE contracting officers to perform independent analyses when reviewing subcontract consent packages, contractor purchasing systems, and potential organizational conflicts of interest. However, this is the same as previous guidance and it does not include direction to review subcontractor ownership information.

Recommendation: The Director of the DOE Office of Acquisition Management should require contracting officers to include assessments of the contractors' management of subcontractors as part of annual Performance Evaluation and Measurement Plans, as appropriate. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE partially concurred with the recommendation and agreed to review existing guidance and determine if additional guidance is needed to conduct an assessment of the contractors' management of subcontractors in annual Performance Evaluation and Measurement Plans. As of June 2020, DOE officials said they have reviewed existing federal and departmental policies, procedures, and available tools and determined sufficient guidance exists for contracting officers to make informed decisions on whether to include contractor management of subcontractors in annual Performance Evaluation and Measurement Plans based on the characteristics, circumstances, and requirements of a specific contract. DOE's Performance Evaluation and Measurement Plan template provides a subcontractor management evaluation factor for use by contracting officers who have determined it is appropriate for their contracts. Although we recognize the value in deferring to contracting officers to determine whether the factor is appropriate based on the characteristics, circumstances, and requirements of the contract, we continue to believe that DOE should place additional emphasis on the contractors' oversight of subcontracts by assessing the contractors on this factor.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health should explore the feasibility of requiring a corporate identification number in its inspection database and enabling its website to be searched by that number. This should include exploring the following issues: (1) which corporate identification number would be most appropriate to require; (2) options for obtaining this number from employers; and (3) options for entering this number in its database that would prevent or minimize delays in closing inspection records. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Labor: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Status: Open

Comments: OSHA did not state whether it agreed with this recommendation. The agency acknowledged the potential utility of obtaining a unique identifier from each employer and said it will continue to promote the collection of Employer Identification Numbers (EIN) or Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) whenever possible by issuing a revised memorandum to field staff to reinforce the importance of collecting this information. OSHA stated that it does not view EINs as confidential or protected from disclosure. However, it expressed concerns about protecting TINs and Social Security Numbers from disclosure, and noted that it would not be able to make a data field available for public search if it contained either of these numbers. OSHA also raised concerns about the financial cost associated with redesigning the agency's data system. We encourage OSHA to explore options for addressing these concerns as it further considers how to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should provide information to contracting officials to advise them that the OSHA website is a resource for information about contractors' workplace safety and health records. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD agreed with this recommendation and identified implementation timelines. We will monitor the agency's progress.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should explore the feasibility of requiring a safety performance rating for contracts in industries that have relatively high rates of occupational injuries, such as manufacturing, construction, and ship building and repairing. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD agreed with this recommendation and identified implementation timelines. We will monitor the agency's progress.

Recommendation: The Director of the Defense Security Service should determine how it will collaborate with stakeholders as it pilots a new approach to overseeing contractors with cleared facilities (DSS in Transition), including identifying roles and responsibilities and the related resources needed. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Defense Security Service
Status: Open

Comments: DOD agreed with this recommendation and as of February 2019, stated that it continues to pilot DSS in Transition at cleared facilities and use information gathered from stakeholders, including key government and industry stakeholder organizations to refine the process. On August 12, 2020, DOD stated that DSS was in the process of drafting a Corrective Action Plan. At that time, DOD officials explained that this plan would be completed in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019. As of September 2020, this plan has not been completed.

Recommendation: The Chief Financial Officer of NRC should formally communicate to all licensees that supplemental billing information--including biweekly reports and monthly status reports on contractor charges--is available and how to request it. Formal communication that would reach all licensees could include adding information to their quarterly invoices. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Status: Open

Comments: According to officials, NRC plans to provide licensees with access to biweekly reports in the summer 2020, with an enhancement to the eBilling system expected in May 2020 and communicating to licensees about the availability of the information in July 2020. Additionally, NRC developed a form for licensees to request additional information on contractor charges on their bill and notified licensees that they may request additional information on contractor charges by submitting this form to NRC.

Recommendation: In developing the project plan for electronic billing, the Chief Financial Officer of NRC should include steps to assess the results of implementing electronic billing, which includes comparing the actual performance to intended outcomes. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Status: Open

Comments: According to NRC, about 10 percent of licensees are currently participating in eBilling. We requested information on how NRC plans to assess the results of eBilling. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information.

Recommendation: To enhance management attention to closing out contracts, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should develop a means for department-wide oversight into components' progress in meeting their goals on closing contracts and the status of contracts eligible for closeout. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Health and Human Services agreed with the recommendation and has developed a template and instructions for quarterly reporting from its divisions. The Department identified some performance measures that it will monitor on a quarterly basis, such as contracts closed on time and total backlog. Due to competing priorities and focus on the COVID-19 response, the Department plans to provide additional steps toward progress at the next reporting cycle.

Recommendation: To enhance management attention to closing out contracts, the Attorney General should direct the Senior Procurement Executive to ensure the development of a means to track data on the number and type of contracts eligible for closeout and where the contracts are in the closeout process, as well as a means to assess--at the agency or component level--progress by establishing goals and performance measures for closing contracts. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Justice
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Justice agreed with the recommendation and in early fiscal year 2020 enhanced its financial management system to allow the Bureaus to assess whether a contract needs to be closed out. The Department anticipates that the associated guidance, which includes performance measures, will be issued in late summer 2020.

Recommendation: To enhance management attention to closing out contracts, the Secretary of State should develop a means at the agency level to track data on the entirety of the number and type of contracts eligible for closeout, where the contracts are in the closeout process, and establish goals and performance measures for closing contracts. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State agreed with the recommendation and is upgrading its system to improve data quality and enable the tracking and sharing of contract closeout information. The enhancements to the contracting system would allow the Department to establish a baseline and develop metrics to measure progress on closing contracts. The Department anticipates that the upgrades and data utilization will continue into fiscal year 2021.

Recommendation: To ensure that federal contractors are complying with equal employment opportunity requirements, the Secretary of Labor should direct the Director of OFCCP to make changes to the contractor scheduling list development process so that compliance efforts focus on those contractors with the greatest risk of not following equal employment opportunity and affirmative action requirements.

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: In 2018, in consultation with technical experts, DOL revised its scheduling list methodology to address this recommendation. The agency's new scheduling approach aims to strike an appropriate balance for addressing recidivism and noncompliance. The new scheduling list methodology, deployed in FY 2019, examined closed cases for FY 2014 through 2018 and grouped them by industries using the 2-digit NAICS code. Within each year, OFCCP identified cases that closed with discrimination findings and included a conciliation agreement to make the victims whole. The percentage of cases with discrimination findings over the total number of cases closed for that year was computed for each industry. This process was repeated for each of the five fiscal years and identified Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Wholesale Trade as three industries with the highest rate of discrimination violations. One-third of 3,500 establishments on the fiscal 2019 scheduling list were selected from these three industries; the remainder of the list included establishments from other industries. Field offices began scheduling from this list in May 2019 and continue to do so. OFCCP will evaluate the efficacy of this methodology once all establishments on the list are scheduled and resulting cases are closed. The agency has made significant effort to revise its scheduling list methodology to reflect potential risk of noncompliance. However, the methodology relies on the results of prior scheduling lists that were nonrandom and did not produce a generalize sample of contractors. Consequently, the results of those scheduling lists do not allow OFCCP to draw accurate conclusions about noncompliance risk. While DOL has made considerable efforts to implement this recommendation, the process described does not necessarily identify those contractors with the greatest risk of not following equal employment opportunity and affirmative action requirements.

Recommendation: To ensure that federal contractors are complying with equal employment opportunity requirements, the Secretary of Labor should direct the Director of OFCCP to develop a mechanism to monitor AAPs from covered federal contractors on a regular basis. Such a mechanism could include electronically collecting AAPs and contractor certification of annual updates.

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: Since 2018, OFCCP issued Directive 2018-07, AAP Verification Initiative, publicly committing to a comprehensive program to verify that federal contractors are complying with AAP obligations on a yearly basis. The program included development of an online portal whereby contractors would certify on a yearly basis compliance with AAP requirements; inclusion of a criterion in the neutral scheduling methodology increasing the likelihood of compliance reviews for contractors that have not certified compliance with the AAP requirements; compliance checks to verify contractor compliance with AAP requirements; requesting proffer of the AAP by contractors when requesting extensions of time to provide support data in response to a scheduling letter; and development of information technology to collect and facilitate review of AAPs provided by federal contractors. OFCCP senior leadership initiated a public campaign by emphasizing AAP certification as an agency priority in meetings with contractors and other external stakeholders. In addition, OFCCP also changed its criteria for granting extensions of time for the submission of support data in response to a scheduling letter and made it contingent upon timely submission of an AAP, within 30 days of receiving the scheduling letter. OFCCP reflected this change in an FAQ on its website. The Task Order to develop the portal expired on September 30, 2019 without fully completing the project. A new contract was awarded in September 2019 to continue this work and delivery of the completed portal is anticipated in the third quarter of fiscal year 2020. Concurrently, OFCCP anticipates obtaining approval from the Office of Management and Budget to collect annual certifications using this portal. When launched, the portal will allow all contractors to certify annually that they have developed and maintain compliant AAPs for each of their establishments or functional/business units. Those contractors who fail to certify, or who certify that they do not have compliant AAPs for each of their establishments or business/functional units, will be more likely to be scheduled for compliance evaluations. Further, OFCCP anticipates having contractors that are scheduled for compliance evaluations use the portal to submit their AAPs for review. While the agency has made considerable efforts to implement this recommendation, the processes described have not been fully implemented. Once implemented, GAO will close the recommendation.