Homeland Security’s $15 billion dollar problem

“A casual look at some of the Department’s efforts lead to disturbing findings,” said Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MI) during a house committee meeting on the mismanagement of the Department of Homeland Security.

“Five-million-dollar- a-mile for a fence…cards that can’t be read; ships that don’t fit into ports; formaldehyde laced trailers that make occupants sick, and an information sharing program that law enforcement personnel do not want to use.”

Thompson explained that the combined total of these, and other, failed projects reached almost $15 billon.

Deputy Chief of Procurement Officer Richard K. Gunderson and Deputy Inspector General James L. Taylor appeared before the committee to defend DHS, explaining that the department had gone through one of the largest reorganizations in government history and was still evolving and dealing with problems as they came up.

In regards to the claims of wasteful spending, Gunderson countered, “A lot of times these contracts have dealt with what I call pre-production environments, where we’re dealing with a lot of design and development, and testing. And we’re qualifying things before we move out into production. I think it’s the same thing you would find at DoD.”

However there has been doubts whether or not DHS have been fixing the mistakes they’ve encountered.

“There haven’t been changes in our recommendations in the areas that we have discussed to date,” said Directory of Acquisition and Sourcing Management for the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

“I think that the fact that process has been in revision since 2005 raises questions about if there are serious impediments that are keeping us from making this process a little healthier than not… I guess I’m hoping we start seeing a little more closure on some of these activities.”