Grassley, Peters Demand Action from Agency that Missed Conflicts of Interest Deadline

Grassley, Peters Demand Action from Agency that Missed Conflicts of Interest Deadline

WASHINGTON - Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) joined Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) in demanding the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council implement their bipartisan 2022 law to prevent conflicts of interest in government contracting. The FAR Council failed to do so by the June 27, 2024, deadline.

"The executive branch is slow walking its implementation of laws Congress passed to mitigate conflicts of interest. That's unacceptable. Taxpayers ought to rest assured their hard-earned dollars aren't going to contractors with potential conflicts. The FAR Council has had almost two years to make mandatory changes, which means it's high time Congress and the public see results," Grassley said of this bipartisan letter to the FAR Council.

Grassley and his colleagues in their letter highlight conflict of interest cases, including one where a U.S.-based technology service simultaneously worked for a foreign adversary. Such circumstances put U.S. vulnerabilities at risk of falling into the wrong hands. The Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act aimed to address reported conflicts of interest between taxpayer-funded projects and contractors' other work. However, the FAR Council has neglected to institute congressional reforms.

Read the senators' full letter HERE.

Background:

Among other provisions, the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act, now law,requires:

• Federal agencies to identify potential conflicts early in contracting processes.
• Federal contractors to disclose preexisting business relationships with entities that may conflict with the work an agency has hired them to do.
• Private companies under contract with the U.S. government to disclose new potential business that opposes any ongoing services they're providing the American people.

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