Senators sound alarm on unaddressed conflicts of interest in government contracting provision in FAR
A bipartisan group of senators is escalating concerns that a law to address government contracting conflicts of interest has not been implemented years after the statutory deadline, per a letter sent Monday and shown exclusively to FedScoop.
In the letter, Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Kevin Rhodes for a timeline of when the Federal Acquisition Regulation will be updated.
“Government agencies should know whether federal contractors’ outside business interests might conflict with their work for Americans,” the letter said. “This law will ensure that federal contractors disclose potential conflicts before they are awarded taxpayer dollars.”
The Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act (Public Law 117-324) requires the FAR to be updated to “strengthen and modernize government-wide standards for identifying and mitigating organizational conflicts of interest” in federal procurement.
Enacted in December 2022, the law’s 18-month deadline passed about two years ago, in June 2024. While the letter said the General Services Administration acknowledged the FAR Council drafted a proposed rule, the rulemaking remains incomplete.
“With nearly two years now elapsed since the FAR update deadline, more timely implementation is essential to protecting the integrity of the federal procurement system,” the letter said.
Born out of an April 2022 House Oversight and Reform Committee investigation finding Food and Drug Administration contractor McKinsey & Co. also worked for opioid manufacturers, the goal of the law was to “rebuild public trust in our contracting process,” Grassley said at the time.
Saying implementation of the law “must be prioritized immediately,” the letter also asked for an update on any remaining interagency coordination or review steps necessary to implement a final rule.
The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has been asked for comment.
