President Bush has signed a continuing resolution to keep most federal agencies operating at fiscal 2005 levels in the new fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Only two of 11 appropriations bills for 2006 have cleared Congress and been signed by the president: those covering the Interior Department and environmental programs and Congress’s own budget. The continuing resolution runs through Nov. 18.

GSA Administrator Stephen Perry announced he will leave at the end of this month after more than four years in the job.

Perry said he will return to his hometown, Canton, OH, but did not reveal his future plans.

GSA has named leaders of the business units in the new Federal Acquisition Service. They will report to the acting commissioner, Barbara Shelton:

Office of Integrated Technology Services: Deidre Lee;
Office of General Supplies and Services: Joseph Jeu;
Office of Travel, Motor Vehicles and Card Services: Barney Brasseux;
Office of Customer Accounts and Research: Mary Davie;
Office of the Controller: Jon Jordan;
Office of the Chief Information Officer: Casey Coleman; and
Office of Administration: Brenda Maxson.

GSA began standing up the new Acquisition Service last month. It was formed by merging the Federal Supply Service and Federal Technology Service, but the merger cannot be completed until Congress passes legislation to combine the General Supply Fund and the Technology Fund.

GSA also announced the appointment of Washington lawyer David L. Winstead as commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, the government’s landlord.

Winstead was a partner with the law firm of Holland & Knight LLP and is a former Maryland secretary of transportation.

Contractors were shut out in six public-private job competitions at the National Institutes of Health. NIH conducted streamlined studies of several units employing fewer than 65 people, including employee and professional development training; medical, dental and other equipment repair; library technicians; and administrative support and other environmental services. Based on market research on private-sector costs, the agency decided to keep all the work in-house.

The Office of Management and Budget reported that federal employees won almost 90% of the job competitions in fiscal 2004, the latest figures available.

OMB announced the appointment of a career government lawyer, Mathew Blum, to the new position of associate administrator for competitive sourcing in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Blum has been the office’s point man on sourcing, but his title has been upgraded.

Another career official, Robert Burton, is acting administrator of the office since David Safavian resigned.