Outside Contractors Fuel Federal Bureaucracy's Growth

Outside Contractors Fuel Federal Bureaucracy's Growth
AP Photo/Danny Johnston

Hiring contractors to do the work of federal employees is common practice in Washington, D.C. It's also illegal, says a new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank. It outlines how federal agences widely misappropriate discretionary funds for this purpose, often with little or no congressional or public oversight.

From the Competitive Enterprise Institute:

Does Congress know of these contracts, and has it explicitly or implicitly approved them? Frequently, the answer to both questions is no.

The prohibition on personal services is an anti-corruption statute. The wrong it was intended to correct was federal employees entrusted with appropriated funds using a portion of those funds to hire others to help with their work—and in some cases perform it entirely. Congress appropriates funds for specific activities; the funds may be legally expended solely for the intended purpose. When a federal employee uses a portion of these funds to hire assistants through contracts, it is almost never reported to Congress. In any case, merely reporting the illegal expenditure does not validate it; there is no such thing as “implied authorization for personal services.” Misappropriation of this type may continue as a matter of course for decades but it is still illegal.

Read Full Article »
Comment
Show commentsHide Comments

Related Articles