A-76 states that, whenever possible, and to achieve greater efficiency and productivity, the federal government should conduct competitions between public agencies and the private sector to determine who should perform the work. The A-76 Competition at the U.S. Army Walter Reed Army Medical Center

It should be noted that the public debate over A-76 policy was further ignited in February 2007 as a result of a series of published articles in the Washington Post on reportedly poor conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. The ensuing public debate led to several investigations, resignations of some senior Army officials, congressional hearings, and legislation passed by Congress to prohibit the conduct of A-76 competitions at military medical facilities. The Current Moratorium on the Conduct of Circular A-76 Competitions

Currently, there is a moratorium on the conduct of OMB Circular A-76 competitions that has been extended through FY2012. The moratorium was extended through the passage of Section 733 of H.R. 2055 , the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2012 ( P.L. 112-74 ). Legislative History on the Moratorium on Circular A-76 Competitions

Congress passed legislation in January 2008 to suspend DOD public-private competitions under OMB Circular A-76 and again in March 2009 to halt the beginning of any new A-76 competitions throughout the rest of the federal government. Since 2008, the moratorium has been extended. No new competitions have taken place since the moratorium has been in place. The effect of this provision was that no funds could be used to begin or announce a public-private competition under OMB Circular A-76; In Section 735 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act FY2010, Congress imposed a government-wide moratorium, prohibiting certain federal agencies from initiating or announcing a new public-private competition under OMB Circular A-76 through September 30, 2010; In Section 325 of the NDAA for FY2010, Congress suspended all ongoing public-private competitions being conducted by the Department of Defense pursuant to OMB Circular A-76 , and established a review and approval process for recommencing such competitions; In Sections 322(c) and 325 (c) of the NDAA for FY2010, Congress required GAO to assess DOD's report on public-private competitions under Circular A-76, and DOD's use of its authority to extend the 24-month time limit on the conduct of A-76 competitions; In Section 8117 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for FY2010, Congress prohibited the spending of any FY2010 funds to conduct public-private competitions under OMB Circular A-76 through September 30, 2010; In Section 323 of the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for FY2011, Congress prohibited the Secretary of Defense from establishing any quotas or goals for converting functions performed by DOD civilian employees to performance by contractors, "unless such goal, target, or quota is based on considered research and analysis, as required by section 235, 2330a, or 2463 of Title 10, United States Code;" Additionally, Section 323 also required the Secretary of Defense to submit to the congressional defense committees, no later than March 31, 2011, a report on the conversion of functions to performance by DOD civilian employees made during FY2010, including the basis and rationale for decisions reached, and the number of contract employees whose functions were converted to performance by DOD civilian employees (an inventory of contracts for services for FY2010); Section 323 also required GAO to complete an assessment of DOD's report, and report to Congress no later than 120 days after DOD submitted its related report to Congress. The moratorium on the conduct of A-76 competitions cannot be lifted until all of these reports have been completed. Other Issues Raised in DOD's Report on Section 325 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (P.L. To what degree have the problems that led to the moratorium been resolved? 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2013 (P.L. 2647 (P.L. Legislation Passed in the 110th Congress

			P.L. The amendment failed to pass, 199-211.
This report discusses the status of the ongoing moratorium on the conduct of Department of Defense (DOD) public-private competitions under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76, and potential issues for Congress.
OMB Circular A-76 is a federal executive branch policy for managing public-private competitions to perform functions for the federal government. A-76 states that, whenever possible, and to achieve greater efficiency and productivity, the federal government should conduct competitions between public agencies and the private sector to determine who should perform the work.
Congress passed legislation in P.L. 110-181, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2008 to suspend DOD public-private competitions under OMB Circular A-76. A government-wide moratorium on the conduct of Circular A-76 competitions was extended through FY2012 through Section 733, Title VII (General Provisions, Government-wide Departments, Agencies and Corporations) of Division C (Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2012) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of FY2012, P.L. 112-74. This moratorium extended through September 30, 2012. The government-wide moratorium has been in place since the passage of P.L. 111-8, the Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY2009.
There were at least two legislative amendments introduced during the 2nd session of the 112th Congress that sought to suspend the moratorium on the conduct of future Circular A-76 competitions. Both amendments failed to pass.
Public debate over A-76 policy ignited in February 2007 as a result of a series of articles in the Washington Post on the conditions at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. The articles led to several investigations, resignations of some senior Army officials, congressional hearings, and legislation passed by Congress to prohibit the conduct of A-76 competitions at military medical facilities. Congress passed legislation in P.L. 110-181, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2008 to suspend DOD public-private competitions under OMB Circular A-76. Congress also passed legislation in P.L. 111-8, the Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY2009, to halt the beginning of any new A-76 competitions throughout the rest of the federal government. The government-wide moratorium has continued to the present.
Congress had directed the completion of several reports before the moratorium can be lifted. The congressionally required reports were the "Section 325" report which DOD was required to submit to Congress within 30 days of the enactment of the FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act, the DOD Inspector General's report on issues involving DOD's conduct of A-76 competitions, and two Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports: one on DOD's conduct of public-private competitions, and the other on DOD's inventory of service contracts. These reports have been completed. Still, the moratorium has not been lifted.
Some policymakers have advocated for an end to the moratorium on the conduct of DOD Circular A-76 competitions. Questions about the moratorium are largely centered around to what extent the problems identified with Circular A-76 have been corrected, and the extent to which the issues raised in the reports have been resolved to the satisfaction of Congress.