The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has issued draft guidance on what constitutes an "inherently governmental" position.

The phrase varies somewhat under existing law, so OFPP proposed that the definition under the Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act be adopted governmentwide. That law says that contractors should not perform jobs that require the "exercise of discretion" in applying "Federal Government authority."

The draft guidance would also have OFPP create tests for agencies to use in deciding whether to contract for particular job functions with the private sector or employ civil servants.

"The 'nature of the function' test would ask agencies to consider whether the direct exercise of sovereign power is involved," the draft policy states.

The draft guidance comes in a time of contractor prevalence within federal agencies, as well as White House and Congressional dislike of Bush-era "competitive sourcing" efforts, which pitted teams of public sector employees against private sector bids for jobs previously done by civil servants. Most of those competitions were won by civil servants, however.

Contractor support for federal procurement has been an area of contention. The Obama administration has said it will hire more civil servants for the acquisition workforce and spend more on training them.

For more:
- read OFPP's draft guidance (.pdf), which includes a request for public comment
- check out this Federal Eye article

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