“Over the past several years, DOD’s top leadership has taken significant steps to plan and monitor progress in the management and oversight of contracting techniques and approaches,” the report said.
But an institution, as large and complex as the Pentagon, that obligates hundreds of billions of dollars under contracts, “will continue to face challenges with its contracting techniques and approaches,” the GAO said.
The GAO issues the biannual report on government operations to identify high risk areas due to vulnerability to fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement, as well as the need for changes to address economy and efficiency.
The GAO said the government has improved on 18 out of 30 areas identified as high risk, including improvements in the Pentagon’s management of contracts.
The GAO also said the Pentagon has made improvements on the management and oversight of contracting techniques, but in three other areas — the acquisition workforce, service acquisitions and operational contract support — “significant challenges still remain.”
Last week, US President Barack Obama submitted a $3.9 trillion budget to Congress that includes more than $560 billion in spending on defense, $38 billion above the sequester budget caps. Defense spending has declined from its peak of nearly $700 billion in 2010, according to Pentagon data.
