GAO: Army Contractors Risk Conflicts

The 49-page report from the Government Accountability Office also found a "blurry" line between private-sector contractors who work alongside government employees at the Contracting Center for Excellence.

More than 40 percent of the contract specialists at the center are contractors whose salaries are paid by private-sector companies, creating potential conflicts of interest, the government watchdog group said.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., called for an "immediate overhaul of federal ethics policies to ensure that conflicts of interests don't impair the impartiality of contractors or their employees."

"We must be assured that contract dollars are awarded so that taxpayers get the best value for their money and not to increase the fortunes of a contractor or its employees," he said in a statement.

The role of these contract specialists at the center creates the potential for a loss of government control over and accountability for policy and program decisions, the GAO report concluded.

For instance, the report noted, the government relies heavily on the contract specialists not to disclose cost and pricing data and other sensitive information that belongs to the government, particularly when they are assigned to a contract on which the company they work for might be bidding.

The GAO added that these contract specialists are often not identified as such to the public enabling them to appear to represent the government when they in fact work for the private sector.

The center provides market research, document preparation and other contracting support services for the Army. It is part of the Army Contracting Agency, created in 2002 to consolidate similar contracts, reduce redundancies and create economies of scale in Army contracting.

These problems, the report said, are partly the result of a government workforce shortage. Industry competition for these workers creates hiring and retention challenges for the Contracting Center for Excellence.