House GOP probes Biden admin over outsourcing law compliance

House Republicans are pressing the Biden administration for information on its implementation of a law affecting what the federal government outsources to the private sector.

Republican Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Lisa McClain, R-Mich., on Tuesday wrote to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) demanding that it provide details on federal employees conducting "non-inherently governmental functions."

Lawmakers cited the 1998 Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act that requires federal agencies to file a report each year with OMB on the "non-inherently governmental activities" performed using agency employees. Those reports must then be sent to Congress and made available to the public with the aim of highlighting government operations that the private sector could perform better.

"At a time of surging annual deficits, the Administration should be using all cost-saving tools at its disposal – including outsourcing functions that can be performed more efficiently by the private sector," they wrote to OMB Director Shalanda Young. "Yet, we note that, under the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget proposal, the federal civilian workforce (excluding Defense Department employees) would grow by 148,000 – just over 10.5 percent – in just the two years from FY 2022 to FY 2024."

"While OMB circular A-76 provides guidance to agencies on how to comply with the FAIR Act, it appears the annual inventories are not being comprehensively conducted under this Administration," the GOP lawmakers asserted. "For instance, the most recent FAIR Act inventory posted on the website of the General Services Administration is for FY 2018. Many more recent agency inventories posted online are done so in formats that are barely decipherable."

The Republicans set an April 14 deadline for Young to provide them with the requested information.

"We would like to work with OMB going forward to ensure full compliance with both the letter and the spirit of the FAIR Act," they concluded.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.