Federal contracting information would be more accurate if contractors, rather than agencies, were made responsible for it, Earl Devaney, head of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency (RAT) board, testified at a recent hearing. Speaking before the House Oversight Committee, Devaney told lawmakers of his experiences overseeing billions of dollars spent through the Recovery Act. His group’s efforts have been lauded for their innovation and accuracy in providing timely and reliable spending and performance information. His message to the Committee was simple: contractors don’t want to be embarrassed.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued new certification requirements to ensure the quality of data entered into the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). The administration believes that complete, accurate, and timely procurement data is essential for ensuring proper contract awards.

Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) office recently issued a “report card” for the DoD IG office. The grades? All D’s and F’s.

The 73-page investigative report claims that the Office of Inspector General is not conducting in-depth financial studies of DoD programs, missing potentially billions of dollars in the very waste that other high-level defense officials like Secretary Robert Gates, Under Secretary for AT&L Ashton Carter, and Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) Shay Assad have so aggressively targeted in recent years. Sen. Grassley claims that the IG is not doing its part in ensuring the defense spending is done so efficiently and effectively.

At least 3,700 private contractors receiving funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5) owe back taxes, a recent GAO report has found. The report estimates that about five percent of all contract and grant recipients under the stimulus bill were tax delinquent, though GAO noted that its sample study might greatly underestimate the extent of tax delinquency. GAO found that 3,700 contractors owed at least $757 million in taxes when receiving Recovery Act contracts or grants, but as Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) noted at a May 24 hearing before the Senate Homeland Subcommittee on Investigations, if the rate of tax delinquency is extended to all 80,000 Recovery Act recipients, the amount of taxes owed could exceed $1 billion.