More For Bureaucrats, Less For Bricks And Mortar

Echoing other officials who have quietly announced the diversion of stimulus cash originally intended to fund construction of public facilities, GAO Acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro testified Thursday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that states which will be spending the bulk of the appropriations for infrastructure will not be able to adequately monitor the expenditures. Vice President Biden has written to Chairman Joseph Lieberman and Ranking Member Susan Collins of that committee promising that OMB sill propose new guidance permitting states to shift funding away from bricks and mortar to state auditor offices for the hiring of more bureaucrats to count the beans. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Edolphus Towns has also announced his intent to put a bill in the hopper redirecting funds from construction to state auditors.

Expenditure Controls Could Bottleneck Stimulus Funds

Highlighting the capacity bottlenecks which could thwart speedy outflow of the economic stimulus funds, OMB deputy Robert Nabors testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Thursday that an additional 150 auditors will be needed to make sure fraud and waste are kept out of these projects. GAO acting director Gene Dodaro says they will not be fully staffed for the job until September. Meanwhile, responding to President Obama's memo making fixed price contracting the new standard for the federal government, the House Armed Services Committee created a bipartisan seven member panel to review defense contracting procedures.