GSA Whistleblower Vindicated, FAS and TTS Realignment, and Politics – Not as Usual?

Shakeups in the management of the General Services Administration (GSA) continue to cascade and make waves. In early July, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) announced that it reached a settlement with the GSA on behalf of recently-resigned Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner Thomas Sharpe. In its letter to President Trump on July 5^th, the OSC agreed with Sharpe’s allegations that GSA had “grossly mismanaged its Technology Transformation Service (TTS).”

Shortly after Sharpe’s resignation as FAS Commissioner, the GSA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report regarding its investigation into allegations that former GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth retaliated against a whistleblower. The report revealed that Sharpe made protected whistleblower disclosures about “concerns of violations of law, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds and abuse of authority” to Roth and others at GSA, including the former Deputy Administrator, the former General Counsel, and the OIG.

Sharpe objected to the use of GSA’s multi-billion dollar Acquisition Services Fund (ASF) to fund the activities of two new GSA technology initiatives, 18F and TTS. As the executive responsible for the ASF, Sharpe had serious concerns about whether 18F and TTS were responsibly investing these funds. In response to these claims an independent investigation was launched by the GSA OIG. It concluded that 18F “[had] not developed a viable plan to achieve full cost recovery” and ran up a net loss of $31M between October 2014 and June 2016.

In a later investigation of Sharpe’s allegations of whistleblower reprisal, the OIG found that Roth had retaliated against Sharpe after he objected to her use of the ASF by threatening to transfer him and reduce his job responsibilities at FAS. In June 2017, the FAS Commissioner was made into a political position and Sharpe was replaced by appointee Alan Thomas. At the same time, the TTS was moved under the FAS. The OSC stated that this reorganization “does very little to address the management challenges” facing the TTS.

Despite the recent shakeup, on July 12^th, newly installed Commissioner Thomas and TTS Director Rob Cook voiced their commitment to helping smooth out federal IT acquisition in a joint hearing of the House Oversight Committee’s IT and Government Operations Subcommittee. Thomas told Subcommittee Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) that he would help the lawmaker shape legislation that would support commercial marketplaces, which could potentially provide federal agencies with faster access to less expensive IT products and services.

We anticipate there will be some challenges ahead for GSA Schedule holders as the GSA works out the integration of TTS into the FAS organization under its new leadership. Functions, programs, roles, and responsibilities will need to be reviewed for duplication and efficiencies. Additionally, as the Trump administration moves forward with efforts to “modernize the federal government,” agencies may need to be educated or reeducated on the best acquisition vehicle for their technology needs.

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