The House on Monday approved by voice vote a bill to strengthen the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) acquisition management, in part by authorizing it to follow existing directives.
The DHS Acquisition Accountability and Efficiency Act (H.R. 4228) standardizes the acquisition process at the department “and establishes oversight mechanisms so projects can be measured and reviewed accordingly, requires baseline costs approval for projects, and gives agency leaders the needed authority to take swift action on major acquisition projects that are experiencing problems,” Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), one of the bill sponsors, said in a statement.
The DHS acquisition management process is on the Government Accountability Office’s high risk list as being vulnerable in terms of being able to manage programs with confidence against waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement.
The legislation was unanimously approved by the House Homeland Security Committee in April.