State Department Updating Contracting Language to Head Off Confusion
The State Department will be improving transparency in its requirements for contractor cooperation with its Office of Inspector General, according to Federal News Radio.
“While the Foreign Affairs Manual authorizes the OIG to access a contractor’s documents and interview its employees during the scope of an investigation, that provision is not currently explicitly expressed in the contracts signed by vendors,” writes David Thornton. “The OIG and the department are moving to correct this issue, and hopefully head off any further confusion or misunderstandings.”
The change is intended to head off problems such as the one seen earlier this year when a contractor would not comply with requests for an IT audit of security controls.
