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Federal Contractor Misconduct
Related Resources (government documents and letters)
POGO Files
POGO Supports Intent of "High Road" Contracting Policies
February 26, 2010
POGO joins letter to President Obama urging needed contractor reforms
February 26, 2010
POGO raises concerns about new contractor database
November 5, 2009
List of Contractors That Could be Defunded as a Result of Anti-ACORN Bill
September 29, 2009
Majority of Top Contractors Could be Defunded by House Legislation A survey of data from POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database shows that 62 federal contractors have been involved in instances that might prohibit them from receiving future federal funds if the "Defund ACORN Act" becomes law.
September 29, 2009
POGO's Updated Federal Contractor Misconduct Database: Lockheed Martin Leads In Contracts and Penalties
April 21, 2009
POGO Calls for Ban on Risky Contractors in Hill Testimony
February 26, 2009
POGO's Scott Amey Testifies on Hill about Suspension and Debarment System Failures
February 26, 2009
POGO Releases Previously Unavailable Government Report Detailing Recommendations to Reduce Procurement Fraud
January 12, 2009
President Bush Signs Law Creating Contractor Responsibility Database; POGO's Database Extended to Top 100 Contractors
October 15, 2008
Myths about a Federal Contractor Responsibility Database
October 15, 2008
Protest of Latest Deepwater Contract Confirms Need for Contractor Responsibility Database
October 10, 2008
Defense Contractor Pleads Guilty in Bribery Scheme
June 4, 2008
POGO Proposes Additional Improvements To Ensure That Contractors Have A Satisfactory Performance Record
June 2, 2008
Flawed Thunderbirds Contract Tainted with Improper Influence
April 18, 2008
7-Day Itch
April 3, 2008
Feds Reverse Course: Some Crime Not OK
April 3, 2008
Government Subpoenas Result in Suspension for IBM
April 1, 2008
Testimony of POGO's Scott Amey on the Status of Contracting Reform
February 27, 2008
POGO makes comment on Contractor Compliance Program and Integrity Reporting POGO supports contractor compliance program and integrity reporting, but the proposed rule’s mandatory reporting requirement must be clarified and expanded to require contractors to disclose a broader array of unethical conduct.
January 14, 2008
Testimony of POGO's Scott Amey on "Federal Contracting: Why Do Risky Contractors Keep Getting Rewarded With Taxpayer Dollars?" POGO's response to post hearing questions supporting H.R. 3033 and
July 18, 2007
Contracting association opposes H.R. 3033
POGO Releases Federal Contractor Misconduct Database
July 18, 2007
An Open Letter to the United States Senate: Support a Full Accounting of Federal Grants!
June 6, 2006
POGO Comment on Boeing Settlement
May 15, 2006
Suspension and debarment: The record shows that the system is broken Not surprisingly, many federal suspension and debarment officials have claimed the system is working. It's not. Critics of the contractor suspension and debarment system, including the Project On Government Oversight for which I work, have made a strong case that the system is in disarray, is stacked heavily against small contractors, and is applied subjectively. According to the government's own data, of the 43,000 individuals, businesses and contractors currently banned from doing future business with the government, none is a large contractor. In the past, POGO has illustrated the application of the suspension and debarment system in favor of large contractors. POGO's research found that from 1990 to 2003, the top 10 federal contractors had a total of 280 instances of misconduct or alleged misconduct and paid more than $2.97 billion in fines, penalties, restitution, settlements and cleanup costs. POGO sent Freedom of Information Act requests to 12 agencies for suspension or debarment records regarding their top contractors. Although POGO found multiple instances of contractor misconduct for many of those contractors, only one agency responded that it had records indicating that the specified contractors were ever considered for suspension or debarment. As a side note, one agency — the Agriculture Department — is still processing POGO's 2001 FOIA request. … The suspension and debarment system clearly does not work, and the government needs to do more than deny the problem — the American public must be protected from risky contractors, both large and small.
March 21, 2005
Government's Timeout System Needs Reform
March 4, 2005
Government Should Consider Suspending Halliburton Contracts
August 18, 2004
Pentagon Auditor Calls for Halliburton to be Financially Penalized until it Accounts for Taxpayer Dollars
August 16, 2004
Government Considers Barring CACI Contracts
May 28, 2004
GSA's Deal with WorldCom: Bad Business for Taxpayers
January 8, 2004
Testimony of POGO's Danielle Brian on "Contractor Debarment and Suspension: A Broken System," before the George Washington Law School
November 20, 2003
Boeing's Rap Sheet
June 9, 2003
Federal Contractor Misconduct: Failures of the Suspension and Debarment System Many of the U.S. government's largest contractors have been found to have repeatedly broken the law or engaged in misconduct, according to POGO's investigation. However, they are never even temporarily suspended, let alone debarred, from gaining additional government contracts, contrary to Reagan/Bush era laws. POGO's research found that, since 1990, 43 of the government's top contractors paid approximately $3.4 billion in fines/penalties, restitution, and settlements. Furthermore, four of the top 10 government contractors have at least two criminal convictions. And yet, only one of the top 43 contractors has been suspended or debarred from doing business with the government, and then, for only five days. Our report includes recommendations to improve the system to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not awarded to contractors with long rap sheets.
May 10, 2002
Related Resources
Sen. McCaskill (D-MO) introduces Senate companion bill for "Contractor and Federal Spending Accountability Act"
Press Office of Rep. Maloney and Senator McCaskill,
April 23, 2008
House panel weighs contracting reform legislation
By Elizabeth Newell, Government Executive
February 26, 2008
Review of GSA’s Suspension and Debarment Program
, GSA Report Number A070105/O/A/F08004
December 20, 2007
DHS Compilation of Contractor Performance Databases
Elaine C. Duke, Chief Procurement Officer, Department of Homeland Security
August 7, 2007
GAO Letter - Responses to Post Hearing Questions: GSA Contractors Who Cheat on Their Taxes and What Should Be Done about It
Government Accountability Office, GAO
April 21, 2006
Written Testimony of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service, Mark Everson, on Federal Contractors Who Cheat on Their Taxes
, Internal Revenue Service
March 14, 2006
Statement of Kathleen M. Turco, Acting Deputy Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration, on Contractors Who Abuse the Federal Tax System
, General Services Administration
March 14, 2006
Thousands of GSA Contractors Abuse the Federal Tax System
, Government Accountability Office
March 14, 2006
POGO in the News
The Nation: The Contractor Scofflaws, By William Greider, National Public Radio (NPR), March 8, 2010
Flawed Nuke Detection Program Dialed-Back by DHS, By Tom Burghardt, Pacific Free Press, February 28, 2010
Should better paying contractors have a competitive advantage?, By Matthew Weigelt , Washington Technology, February 26, 2010
POGO: Contracting executive order a positive step, With Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris, Federal News Radio, January 21, 2010
Contract cons can exploit Transportation delay, By Jim McElhatton, Washington Times, January 13, 2010
Why Is the Government Paying Companies Fined for Pollution and Accused of Fraud?, By Will Evans, California Watch/AlterNet, January 11, 2010
Obama Promise #30, By Wes Allison, St. Petersburg Times; PolitiFact.com, January 6, 2010
The Federal Drive, With Tom Temin & Jane Norris, Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast (WFED), November 10, 2009
New contractor database draws fire, By Alice Lipowicz, Federal Computer Week, November 9, 2009
Two stimulus contractors suspended from government work, By Marcus Green, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 9, 2009
Stimulus dollars going to accused contractors, By Kimberly Kindy, The Washington Post, October 29, 2009
Stimulus Contracts Go to Companies Under Criminal Investigation, By Michael Grabell, ProPublica, October 25, 2009
Defense firms in probe received $30M in stimulus money, By Michael Grabell, ProPublica, USA Today, October 25, 2009
The Acorn Standard, By Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, October 14, 2009
Its Not Just ACORN, Says Congressman Grayson, By Katherine Wells, The Huffington Post, October 2, 2009
Pentagon Fraud and the ACORN Standard, , Los Angeles Chronicle, October 2, 2009
ACORN to lose funding?, With Dylan Ratigan, MSNBC TV Morning Meeting, October 1, 2009
ACORN Donations Dwindle In Wake Of Videos, by Pam Fessler, NPR, All Things Considered, October 1, 2009
Bills to Defund ACORN Face Legal Hurdles, Experts Say, , FoxNews.com, October 1, 2009
Congress Cracks Down on Defense Fraud: But it was just by accident, By Ken Silverstein, Harper’s’ Magazine, September 30, 2009
Defunding ACORN faces surprise hurdles, By Stephan Dinan, The Washington Times, September 30, 2009
OOPS! The ACORN Ban Could Snag Lockheed & Catholic Charities, By Laura Flanders, The Nation Magazine; Blog: The Notion, September 25, 2009
Editorial: If you thought ACORN was bad ..., , Dallas Morning News, September 23, 2009
Contractor integrity, performance to face higher level of scrutiny, By Jason Miller, Federal News Radio, September 4, 2009
How Federal Contracts Waste Taxpayers' Money, , Parade Magazine, July 19, 2009
SAIC faces challenge in False Claims defense, By Alice Lipowicz, Washington Technology, July 8, 2009
GAO: Despite efforts, gaps remain in data on contractors, By Elizabeth Newell , Government Executive, May 27, 2009
Lockheed lands atop ranking in defense dollars, misconduct cases, By Richard Burnett, The Orlando Sentinel, April 23, 2009
POGO Updates Contractor Misconduct Database, , Defense Industry Daily/Online, April 22, 2009
Group updates federal contractor misconduct database, By Alice Lipowicz, Washington Technology, April 21, 2009
POGO: Penalized contractors kept winning contracts, By Alice Lipowicz, Washington Technoligy, March 29, 2009
Obama Supports Acquisition Reform Bill, By John M. Doyle, Aviation Week, March 5, 2009
President Orders Review of Federal Contracting System More Competition, Accountability for Procurement Sought, By Scott Wiilson and Robert O'Harrow, Jr., The Washington Post, March 5, 2009
When suspending contractors, size - not action - matters, By Elise Castelli, Federal Times, March 2, 2009
Paper urges tougher controls on contractors, By Alice Lipowicz, Federal Computer Week, January 13, 2009
More Procurement Reform, By Robert O’Harrow, Washington Post Online, January 13, 2009
A firm voice on the Hill, By Alice Lipowicz, Washington Technology, January 12, 2009
Burnett Tainted by Army Billing Fiasco, By Jeremy Mullman and Ira Teinowitz, AD Age, January 12, 2009
Contractor watchdog updates misconduct database, By Alice Lipowicz, Washington Technology, November 4, 2008
Annals of Crony Capitalism, Nuke Detection Machines Fail, Again, By Tom Burghardt, Global Research, November 4, 2008
Defense awards more Iraq reconstruction work to contractors cited for poor performance, By Elizabeth Newell, Government Executive, October 28, 2008
List of federal contractors and their misdeeds is just a click away, By Mark Mahoney, Glens Falls Post-Star, October 15, 2008
Abu Ghraib: The Outsourcing of Torture, By Tom Burghardt, Global Research, July 6, 2008
Action Tougher Than Oversight, By Matthew Blake, The Washington Independent, June 17, 2008
Outsourcing The Fight, By P.W. Singer, Forbes.com, June 6, 2008
Access to contractor misconduct database restricted in Senate bill, By Robert Brodsky, Gov Exec, May 21, 2008
Surge of potential acquisition bills, rulemaking spark comments, By Michael Bruno, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, April 29, 2008
Tracking the Spoils of the Private Sector, Editorial, The New York Times, April 24, 2008
Maloney Federal Contractor Oversight Bill Passes House; Sen. McCaskill Introduces Companion Legislation, Meghan O’Shaughnessy (Maloney Press Officer), Congressional Documents and Publications U.S. Senate Documents, April 23, 2008
Today's Spotlight: A Contractor Misconduct Database, By Andrew B. Einhorn, Ohmygov.com, April 23, 2008
NDIA Works To Kill Contractor-Misdeed Database, By William Matthews, Defense News, April 15, 2008
IBM Bid Suspension Rattles Contractors; Influence, By Jeff Horwitz, Legal Times, April 14, 2008
EG&G deal: Contractor won HAFB missile contract despite poor record, By Matthew D. LaPlante, The Salt Lake Tribune, April 9, 2008
Ban on IBM contracting is lifted, By Elise Castelli, Federal Times, April 4, 2008
Turn Yourselves In, By Elizabeth Newell, Government Executive, April 1, 2008
U.S. used suspended security firm, By Jim McElhatton, Washington Times, March 31, 2008
GSA’s Alliant exemplifies common problem, By Elise Castelli, Federal Times, March 23, 2008
Bills Improving Federal Contracting Gain Momentum, By OMB Watch, Hawaii Reporter, March 18, 2008
Maloney Federal Procurement Oversight Bill Advances,, , Press Release by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), March 13, 2008
Panel Approves Bills on Federal Contractor Oversight, By Emily P. Walker and Annie Johnson, CQ Committee Coverage, March 13, 2008
Contractors, administration officials voice concerns about contracting bills, By Elizabeth Newell, Government Executive, February 27, 2008
House panel weighs contracting reform legislation, By Elizabeth Newell, Government Executive, February 26, 2008
Group, POGO Weigh in on Proposal To Mandate Contractor Disclosure of Crimes, By Deborah Billings, BNA (Bureau of National Affairs) Federal Contract Report, February 12, 2008
Army claims sexual trysts tied to Iraq contracts, by Guillermo Contreras, San Antonio Express-News, November 11, 2007
The Top Corrupt 50, Posted by Shirah, Unbossed.com, October 17, 2007
Tracking the misconduct of federal contractors, by POGO's Neil Gordon, NiemanWatchdog.org, September 26, 2007
Lockheed's Wacky Lawsuit, by David Axe, Wired Magazine’s “Danger Room” blog, September 12, 2007
We' ve got our eyes on you: Watchdog group launches database of alleged misdeeds, by Michael Hardy, Washington Technology, August 6, 2007
Keeping tabs on contractors, , Star-Telegram, July 19, 2007
Keeping track of federal contractors, by Andrew Eder, Knoxville News Sentinel, July 18, 2007
Inconsistencies hinder sharing of contractor performance data, by Elizabeth Newell, GovExec.com, July 18, 2007
Is the Federal Contracting System Out of Whack?, by Daniel Schulman, Mother Jones (MojoBlog), July 18, 2007
Herley's Hurly-Burly, by Will Swarts, SmartMoney, June 7, 2006
Companies Avoid Paying Fines, , CNN, March 21, 2006
Air Force Ends Suspension of Boeing Unit, by Leslie Wayne, New York Times, March 5, 2005
Methods and practices to discourage recidivism among government contractors, , Marketplace Radio, March 2, 2005
CACI Contract: From Supplies to Interrogation, by Ellen McCarthy, Washington Post, May 17, 2004
Too big to debar: Why only small firms get hammered, by Karen Robb, Federal Times, March 29, 2004
"Dangers of the Revolving Door," Letter to the Editor by POGO's Caleb Rowe, Letter to the Editor by POGO's Caleb Rowe, Washington Post, July 19, 2003
Mergers Make It Tougher to Punish Federal Contractors, By Anne Marie Squeo, Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2003
Boeing Admits Misconduct In Contract Bid, by Greg Schneider, The Washington Post, June 10, 2003
Pentagon Procurement: Play Fair, Editorial, Defense News, May 13, 2002
Wages of sin: Why lawbreakers still win government contracts, by Christopher H. Schmitt, U.S. News & World Report, May 13, 2002
Study: Contracts Given To Repeat Violators, by Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, May 7, 2002
