Managing Service Contracts

In fiscal year 2010, civilian agencies obligated $136 billion on service contracts, including obligations for professional and management support services such as program evaluation and acquisition support. Many of these services increase the risk that contractors may inappropriately influence the governments authority, control, and accountability for inherently governmental decisions. GAO was asked to (1) determine the extent to which civilian agencies use professional and management support service contracts and the types of activities acquired, (2) determine if agencies consider and mitigate risks associated with contractors providing these services, and (3) assess agencies response to recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) efforts related to acquiring these services. GAO analyzed Federal Procurement Data System Next Generation (FPDS-NG) data and selected a nongeneralizable sample of 230 statements of work and 12 case studies from five agencies with one-third of obligations for these services in fiscal year 2010. GAO also reviewed agency and governmentwide guidance and met with agency and OMB officials.