The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a new report today entitled “GAO-21-388 Spare Parts Contracts: Collecting Additional Information Could Help DOD Address Delays in Obtaining Cost or Pricing Data”. According to the GAO auditors, the “DOD spends billions of dollars a year on sole-source spare parts contracts to keep its planes, ships, and systems operating. DOD relies on cost or pricing data from contractors to determine if prices for spare parts are reasonable. We found DOD contracting officers have faced delays in obtaining this data, which slowed down contract awards. For example, a contract we reviewed had a lag of 1,154 days. DOD doesn't track when contractors delay providing required data and as a result, DOD can't assess the causes of the delays. We recommended DOD identify options for collecting information on delays in obtaining cost or pricing data.”

The GAO also issued important new testimony yesterday entitled “GAO-21-594T Cybersecurity: Federal Agencies Need to Implement Recommendations to Manage Supply Chain Risks”. The GAO stated that “the supply chain for information and communication technologies can be an access point for hackers. Compromised SolarWinds Orion network management software, for example, was sent to an estimated 18,000 customers. We testified about the government's SolarWinds response and agency efforts to reduce supply chain vulnerability. The response included a coordinated effort to help agencies find and remove the threats to their systems. In a 2020 report, we noted that none of 23 reviewed agencies had fully adopted identified practices to reduce supply chain risks. Federal information security has been on our High Risk List since 1997.”