Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today called for a no-holds-barred congressional investigation of the procurement process at the U.S. Air Force following the decision by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to uphold the Boeing Company’s protest of the $35 billion refueling tanker contract awarded to Northrop Grumman.  The GAO decision fulfills the process that CAGW called for – allowing the GAO to do its work without interference by members of Congress.

The GAO took the Air Force to task for numerous errors in its initial award, including the failure to “assess the relative merits of the proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria identified in the solicitation,” which is the most basic function of a contract review.  The GAO also noted that the evaluation of the “most probable life cycle costs … was unreasonable.”  Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Sue Payton said her team had “followed a ‘carefully structured’ procurement process designed to ‘provide transparency, maintain integrity and ensure fair competition.’”

“Air Force officials didn’t miss it by a little; they apparently missed it by a mile.  Since the days of the $436 hammer and $640 toilet seat, CAGW has called for reforms of the procurement process at the Pentagon.  If this is the best the Air Force can do on its most critical contract award, the system remains dysfunctional.  One wonders what might be occurring with other defense procurements,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.

“After the initial tanker lease to Boeing was rightfully rejected in 2003, the Air Force had to conduct a very clean and fair review so that there would be no delay in the construction of the tankers once the award was made.  Instead, our war fighters are facing more delays to replace 50 year-old equipment that is critical to national security.  The Air Force now has 60 days to respond, and we continue to urge Congress to allow the process to run its course.  The best outcome for taxpayers depends on the integrity of the procurement process, which must move forward transparently and without politicization,” Schatz concluded.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.