Management Assistance Report: Improved Guidance and Acquisition Planning is Needed to Reduce the Use of Bridge Contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq

Submitting OIG:

Department of State OIG

Date Issued:

Monday, July 26, 2021

Agency Reviewed / Investigated:

Department of State

Submitting OIG-Specific Report Number:

AUD-MERO-21-37

Component, if applicable:

Bureau of Administration

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs

Location(s):

Agency-Wide

Afghanistan

Iraq

Type of Report:

Other

Questioned Costs:

Funds for Better Use:

Number of Recommendations:

View Document:

Attachment	Size
AUD-MERO-21-37-Web-Posting508.pdf	1.01 MB

Recommendation Number	Recommendation Status	Significant Recommendation
1	Open	No
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive amend the Foreign Affairs Handbook to include a subsection in 14 FAH-2 H-320, Acquisition Planning, providing direct guidance on sole source noncompetitive contracts or contract extensions with an existing contractor to bridge the time between the original end of that contractor’s contract and the competitive award of a follow-on contract, including providing definitions to the terms: “bridge contract” or “bridge actions,” the parameters under which these sole source noncompetitive contracts and extensions can be used, and a requirement to provide additional information necessary to justify consecutive uses of a noncompetitive sole source award.
2	Open	Yes
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive, develop and implement a process to identify and elevate to the Assistant Secretary of Administration, who serves as the appointed agency Chief Acquisition Officer, instances when the acquisition planning process is adversely impacted due to insufficient program office participation so the Chief Acquisition Officer can engage with the impacted program office bureau’s assistant secretary to resolve delays in pursuing full and open competition for contracts in overseas contingency environments.
3	Open	No
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive, revise its Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) Guide to require that written justification for using less than full and open competition for awarding bridge contracts include information on why and how the delay occurred, what measures have or will be undertaken to resolve the delay, and the milestones to achieving full and open competition.

Recommendation Number

Recommendation Status

Significant Recommendation

Additional Details

Open

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive amend the Foreign Affairs Handbook to include a subsection in 14 FAH-2 H-320, Acquisition Planning, providing direct guidance on sole source noncompetitive contracts or contract extensions with an existing contractor to bridge the time between the original end of that contractor’s contract and the competitive award of a follow-on contract, including providing definitions to the terms: “bridge contract” or “bridge actions,” the parameters under which these sole source noncompetitive contracts and extensions can be used, and a requirement to provide additional information necessary to justify consecutive uses of a noncompetitive sole source award.

Open

Yes

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive, develop and implement a process to identify and elevate to the Assistant Secretary of Administration, who serves as the appointed agency Chief Acquisition Officer, instances when the acquisition planning process is adversely impacted due to insufficient program office participation so the Chief Acquisition Officer can engage with the impacted program office bureau’s assistant secretary to resolve delays in pursuing full and open competition for contracts in overseas contingency environments.

Open

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive, revise its Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) Guide to require that written justification for using less than full and open competition for awarding bridge contracts include information on why and how the delay occurred, what measures have or will be undertaken to resolve the delay, and the milestones to achieving full and open competition.

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Management Assistance Report: Improved Guidance and Acquisition Planning is Needed to Reduce the Use of Bridge Contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq

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