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Transportation Security Administration: High-Level Attention Needed to Strengthen Acquisition Function

GAO-04-544 Published: May 28, 2004. Publicly Released: Jul 01, 2004.
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Highlights

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), within the Department of Homeland Security, was established to secure the nation's transportation systems, beginning with commercial airports. To meet its mission, TSA has awarded over $8.5 billion in contracts since its creation in 2001. Spending on contracts accounted for 48 percent of TSA's fiscal year 2003 budget. Because of TSA's reliance on contracts to carry out its mission, its acquisition infrastructure-- including oversight, policies and processes, acquisition workforce, and information about its acquisitions--is critical. GAO was asked to review TSA's acquisition infrastructure to assess how well TSA is positioned to carry out its acquisition function.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Transportation Security Administration To help ensure that TSA receives the goods and services it needs at the best value to the government, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration to elevate the Office of Acquisition to an appropriate level within TSA to enable it to identify, analyze, prioritize, and coordinate agencywide acquisition needs.
Closed – Implemented
In written comments on GAO's report, the agency stated that it had elevated the position of the Office of Acquisition once, but agreed to continue to evaluate its placement within the organization. On June 24, 2005, TSA's Office of Acquisition provided evidence that the Office of Acquisition had been elevated. On July 7, 2006, DHS responded with written comments that the TSA Assistant Administrator for Acquisition, Office of Acquisition, had been elevated as a direct report to the Deputy Administrator of TSA. Additionally, the Office of Acquisition rolled out an outreach program specifically tasked to link up acquisition expertise with every program office; the Office of Acquisition has specialists who provide guidance and support on every area of the acquisition lifecycle. DHS also indicated that a Management Directive was issued which established policy for the acquisition planning process and explains the roles and responsibilities of the principal TSA officials responsible for this process, including the Chief Procurement Executive.
Transportation Security Administration To help ensure that TSA receives the goods and services it needs at the best value to the government, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration to develop an adequate system of internal controls, performance measures, and incentives to ensure that policies and processes for ensuring efficient and effective acquisitions are implemented appropriately.
Closed – Implemented
In its written comments on GAO's report, the agency concurred with the recommendation. On June 24, 2005, TSA's Office of Acquisition provided the following additional information: TSA has implemented a contract oversight and quality assurance program, which includes developing oversight policy, implementing file reviews, using the services of the Defense Contract Management Agency and Defense Contract Audit Agency, strengthening the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) program, and developing performance measures. Parts of these initiatives are still being developed. On July 7, 2006, DHS provided written comments, which further elaborated on its efforts described above, namely: the establishment of oversight policy through several directives, the establishment of a Management Control Council, and the TSA Investment Review Process Guide and a policy for Earned Value Management, both of which emphasize planning and program execution; DHS responded that its file reviews will be complete at the end of FY06; in FY 2005, TSA implemented an integrated financial/procurement/asset management system, which enables contracting officers to make awards and review invoices electronically; DHS provided several examples of DCAA reports issued to TSA contracting officers in FY 2005; COTR file reviews will be completed by the end of FY06; DHS indicated that in FY06 alone, 46 workshops with approximately 1,000 attendees that provided training in key acquisition processes were held, and two more workshops were recently implemented; and finally, DHS provided an example of a TSA Acquisition Program Status Report (scorecard).
Transportation Security Administration To help ensure that TSA receives the goods and services it needs at the best value to the government, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration to direct the TSA Human Capital Office to do the following in coordination with key offices in the Department of Homeland Security: (1) assess TSA's current acquisition workforce (as defined by the Department of Homeland Security) to determine the number, skills, and competencies of the workforce; (2) identify any gaps in the number, skills, and competencies of the current acquisition workforce; and (3) develop strategies to address any gaps identified, including plans to attract, retain, and train the workforce.
Closed – Implemented
In written comments on GAO's report, the agency generally concurred with the recommendation and stated that the TSA Office of Human Resources would work with the DHS Acquisition Workforce staff to conduct gap analyses and remedy deficiencies. On June 24, 2005, TSA's Office of Acquisition provided the following additional information: TSA continues to work with the Office of Human Resources on assessing TSA's acquisition workforce and developing a formal career development ladder and Acquisition Human Capital Strategy. TSA expects to complete the strategy by July 2005 and will reassess and refine the plan after one year. On July 7, 2006, DHS provided written comments and supporting documentation regarding an acquisition workforce study that increased the Office of Acquisition's FTE levels. DHS also indicated that in FY05/06, TSA's Office of Acquisition recruited 19 fellows under the DHS fellows program; these fellows were recruited using a career ladder. TSA is currently recruiting for additional fellows for FY07 and is partnering with human resources to visit local universities. Additionally, the Office of Acquisition contracted out the development of a human capital plan for the organization that should be finalized by the end of FY06; a copy will be provided when the plan is complete.
Management Directorate The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that its planned departmentwide knowledge management system provides TSA sufficient data and analytic capability to measure and analyze spending activities and performance--and thereby highlight opportunities to reduce costs and improve service levels.
Closed – Implemented
The DHS strategic sourcing initiative, which involves collecting departmentwide spending information to leverage buying power, will address this recommendation.
Management Directorate The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that its planned departmentwide knowledge management system provides TSA sufficient data and analytic capability to support effective oversight of acquisitions.
Closed – Implemented
DHS has developed an acquisition oversight policy and procedures that will now address the intent of this recommendation.
Management Directorate The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that its planned departmentwide knowledge management system provides TSA sufficient data and analytic capability to facilitate the timely reporting of the agency's acquisition activities and its compliance with acquisition policies and processes.
Closed – Implemented
DHS is revising its investment review process and expects the new process to be published by the end of 2008. We have seen a draft of the new process and it addresses the intent of this recommendation.

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Topics

Airport securityAirportsBaggageBaggage screeningFederal procurementHomeland securityHuman capitalInternal controlsLabor forcePerformance measuresPersonnel recruitingPolicy evaluationProcurement policyProcurement practicesStaff utilizationTransportation safetyTransportation securityInformation management