The revolving door dilemma.

• Author: Altenburg, Jr., John D.
• Position: Ethics Corner

* The growing trend--not unnoticed by Congress--of former Defense Department policy and acquisition personnel going directly from their key government positions to work for private sector defense contractors may force the department to step-up compliance measures to monitor the migration.

The backdrop for this new oversight is the FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the Government Accountability Office to investigate recent employment of Defense Department officials by major contractors.

More than 86,000 former Defense Department personnel were employed by 52 different defense contractors in 2006, GAO reported in May. Of that remarkably large number, more than of 2,000 were flag-rank officers, senior executives, program managers or contracting officers hired between 2004 and 2006.

GAO emphasized that corporations reported having compliance procedures that address post-government employment restrictions. However, the report questioned the accuracy of these corporate compliance reporting mechanisms, finding that corporations significantly underreported the employment of former Defense Department officials.

GAO made two significant estimates in its report. First, that hundreds of Defense Department officials working for defense-related corporations in 2006 may have performed work related to contracts of their former government agency or military service. Second, and perhaps more important from an ethics compliance perspective, it estimated that nine former defense officials worked on contracts that they previously oversaw or at least exercised authority over in their former government and military capacities. These estimates may implicate violations of post-employment restrictions, depending upon the nature and degree of the employees' previous government service involvement with the contracted work.

Also, the interval between the former official's departure from government service and follow-on work as a corporate employee is critical to the legal analysis.

In summary, GAO recommended that the department consider whether changes in procurement policy are needed. It said additional contractor reporting and disclosure requirements are needed to ensure compliance with post-employment conflict of interest restrictions and to impose greater transparency of corporate employment of ex-Defense Department officials.

It also recommended that the department incorporate an additional certification requirement for contract awardees...