{"id":28781,"date":"2019-03-19T13:41:39","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T13:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/19\/reject-defense-reforms-federal-workers-urge-congress\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:58:09","slug":"reject-defense-reforms-federal-workers-urge-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2019\/03\/19\/reject-defense-reforms-federal-workers-urge-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Reject defense reforms, federal workers urge Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Federal workers told Congress this week that defense acquisition reform proposals billed as cutting red tape for the Pentagon to buy trailblazing commercially available items would \u201cresult in large unnecessary costs,” and they are urging<\/a> lawmakers to reject them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opposition by the American Federation of Government Employees, which counts 300,000 Pentagon employees in its ranks, to recommendations from the congressionally mandated Section 809 Panel means lawmakers will have multiple arguments to chew on as they decide which of the panel\u2019s many reform proposals to include in the annual defense policy bill. The Section 809 Panel\u2019s two-year effort yielded a 2,000-page report that was finalized<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFGE\u2019s national president, J. David Cox Sr., argued in a six-page letter<\/a> to the House and Senate Armed Services committees dated March 15 that the panel\u2019s proposed \u201cdynamic marketplace framework\u201d and other recommendations would line the pockets of defense contractors and only appear as well-reasoned reforms and streamlining of regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing could be further from the truth,\u201d Cox said in the letter. \u201cThis would, while increasing contracting profits, predictably decrease funds that otherwise could have been targeted toward compelling needs such as military readiness, support to our uniformed volunteers and their families, and the replacement of aging war-fighting equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cox argued the panel hadn\u2019t made the operational case for the proposal and that buying commercial might thwart the military\u2019s interoperability goals and introduce more cyber vulnerabilities. He said the panel had been made up of former industry and procurement officials who were \u201cbiased solely to give expanding procurement opportunities to the private sector\u201d and lacked representation from the \u201ctotal force management communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t