GSA Chief Takes Office, Faces Challenges

After months of waiting for her nomination to be approved, Martha Johnson is finally set to begin working as head of the General Services Administration.

Johnson's stalled nomination was approved by a Senate vote Thursday.

As she gets down to business, Johnson and GSA face a number of challenges that affect government IT, including the prospect of procurement reform, a sometimes confusing and disorganized array of contract vehicles, and an understaffed and underqualified acquisition workforce across the rest of the government.

Several major recent contract vehicles have gotten off to a slow start. The $50 billion Alliant vehicle took a long time to be ready, causing many agencies to write their own vehicles for major projects. Telecom contract vehicle Networx is far behind target. There's also a seemingly never-ending array of indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts -- well over 1,000 government-wide.

"There's a good opportunity for her to stand back and say, what are the government's requirements, and how can I develop a contract vehicle that's flexible, low-cost for the government to operate, low-cost for the industry to compete for, and still provide the unique aspects rather than commoditized aspects of technology," said Ray Bjorkland, senior VP and chief knowledge officer of government market research firm FedSources.

Bjorkland noted that the acquisition workforce poses another challenge that Johnson could turn into an opportunity. "Throughout the government, the acquisition workforce is understaffed and in some cases not fully qualified," he said. "There's a great opportunity to make assisted acquisition services work."

There are also a number of changes coming down the pike that Johnson may have to deal with, including procurement reforms and the administration's perception of GSA as a potential locus for shared services and cloud computing.

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., placed a hold on Johnson's nomination in July, ostensibly to pressure the GSA to build a federal office building in Kansas City. Earlier this year, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also reportedly had a hold on Johnson's nomination, though that had been lifted.

Johnson served as part of President Obama's transition team and was chief of staff for the GSA's administrator from 1997 to 2001. Most recently, she has been VP of culture at Computer Sciences Corp. since 2007.

Johnson sailed through the Senate by a 94 to 2 vote margin after a Thursday vote to override Bond's hold, which required 60 votes, was approved 82 to 16. In the end, even Bond voted in Johnson's favor.

An impassioned plea from President Obama and a conversation with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky.), earlier this week may have helped matters along. "I nominated somebody who was well qualified several months ago, and nobody can tell me that there's anything particularly wrong with her," he said at a meeting of Senate Democrats Wednesday. They're blocking her because of some unrelated matter. That has to end, and the American people want it to end. Don't hold this woman hostage."

After months of her nomination being stalled, Martha Johnson is finally set to begin working as head of the General Services Administration.

As she gets down to business, Johnson and GSA face a number of challenges that affect government IT, including the prospect of procurement reform, a sometimes confusing and disorganized array of contract vehicles and an understaffed and underqualified acquisition workforce across the rest of the government.

Several major recent contract vehicles have not gotten off to the best start. The $50 billion Alliant vehicle took a long time to be ready, causing many agencies to write their own vehicles for major projects. Telecom contract vehicle Networx is far behind targets. There's also a seemingly never-ending array of indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts " well over 1,000 government-wide.

"There's a good opportunity for her to stand back and say, what are the government's requirements, and how can I develop a contract vehicle that's flexible, low-cost for the government to operate, low-cost for the industry to compete for, and still provide the unique aspects rather than commoditized aspects of technology," says Ray Bjorkland, senior VP and chief knowledge officer of government market research firm FedSources.

Bjorkland noted that the acquisition workforce poses another challenge that Johnson could turn into an opportunity. "Throughout the government, the acquisition workforce is understaffed and in some cases not fully qualified," he said. "There's a great opportunity to make assisted acquisition services work."

There are also a number of changes coming down the pike that Johnson may have to deal with, including procurement reforms and the administration's perception of GSA as a potential locus for shared services and cloud computing.

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., placed a hold on Johnson's nomination in July, ostensibly to pressure the GSA to build a federal office building in Kansas City. Earlier this year, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also reportedly had a hold on Johnson's nomination, though that had been lifted.

Johnson served as part of President Obama's transition team and was chief of staff for the GSA's administrator from 1997 to 2001. Most recently, she's been VP of culture at Computer Sciences Corp. since 2007.

An impassioned plea from President Obama and a conversation with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., earlier this week may have helped matters along. "I nominated somebody who was well qualified several months ago, and nobody can tell me that there's anything particularly wrong with her," the President said at a meeting of Senate Democrats Wednesday. They're blocking her because of some unrelated matter. That has to end, and the American people want it to end. Don't hold this woman hostage."

Johnson sailed through the Senate on a 94 to 2 vote after a Thursday vote to override Bond's hold, which required 60 votes, was approved 82 to 16. In the end, even Bond voted in Johnson's favor.