GAO Confirms Suspension and Debarment Activity on the Rise

Suspension and debarment activity is on the rise, even among agencies that do not traditionally suspend and debar contractors and recipients of Federal assistance. Suspension and debarment activities at six agencies that had "few or no" procurement-related suspensions or debarments prior to 2010 increased these actions 14 fold between 2010 and 2013 - from 19 to 271 - according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The six agencies that GAO surveyed were the Departments of Commerce, Health and Human Services, Justice, State, Treasury, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, each of which was the subject of an earlier GAO report that was critical of the agencies' lack of suspension/debarment activity.