Career Federal Lawyer Named to Procurement Post President Obama plans to nominate a top official of the Government Accountability Office, Daniel Gordon, to head the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. The nomination, subject to Senate confirmation, was announced Oct. 2. As GAO’s acting general counsel, Gordon manages 150 attorneys who conduct acquisition audits and adjudicate bid protests. In two recent protests, his office rejected SBA’s parity rule for set-aside contracts. The Justice Department has since overruled those decisions. (SAA, 9/11) The Office of Federal Procurement Policy, an arm of the Office of Management and Budget, will play a key role in implementing the president’s contracting reforms. However, many of the procurement changes have already started moving while the administrator’s position was vacant. The administration plans to reduce federal contract spending by 7% over the next two years and begin insourcing some work that is now performed by contractors. OMB Director Peter Orszag wrote in his blog, “Dan is a career contracting professional who understands that the top goal of our procurement efforts is to use taxpayers’ dollars smartly and effectively – that we get the most value for every dollar we spend.  Dan will bring a fresh approach to procurement policy, but he also will rely on the expertise of the career procurement workforce to improve our procurement processes. “This is a critical job. In July, OMB unveiled contracting and workforce reforms that are designed to save the taxpayers at least $40 billion a year.  The reforms focus on three areas: streamlined acquisition, managing the multi-sector workforce, and improved contractor performance.  In his new job, Dan will help to implement these reforms and develop new strategies to improve procurement.” Gordon joined GAO in 1992. From 2000 through 2006 he headed GAO’s procurement law division, which handles bid protests.