{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141003023428/http://coffman.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/congressman-demands-action-on-va-fedbid-scandal", "Congressman demands action on VA-FedBid scandal", "2014-10-02", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Mike Coffman", "C001077", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "A prominent Republican representative on the House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs has called on\u00a0VA Secretary Robert\u00a0McDonald to\u00a0explain what, if any, punitive action he plans to take against a former deputy chief procurement officer at the Veterans Health Administration who\u00a0was found to have engaged in violations of federal procurement law and\u00a0has called on\u00a0the agency to evaluate whether the reverse auction company\u00a0at the heart of the scandal, FedBid Inc., remains a \u201cresponsible contractor\u201d\u00a0under federal procurement law.\nIn a letter sent Monday\u00a0to McDonald, Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., chairman of the Veterans\u2019 Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, details the findings of a VA inspector general report that uncovered\u00a0an orchestrated campaign by FedBid executives to \u201cassassinate\u201d the character of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Logistics Jan Frye after he\u00a0suspended the use of reverse auctions throughout the agency in 2012 and that found that Susan Taylor, VA\u2019s deputy chief procurement officer at the Veterans Health Administration, abused her position and\u00a0\u201cimproperly acted as an agent of FedBid in matters before the government.\u201d\n\u201cThe sheer extent of the abuse of power undertaken by Ms. Taylor at VA alone should warrant her termination,\u201d Coffman wrote. \u201cIt is apparent that Ms. Taylor is the personification of the morally bankrupt and ethically impaired culture that exists within the Department.\u201d Coffman also wrote that the IG report substantiates that FedBid \u201cwas actively conspiring to defame an honorable public servant in an attempt to protect a friendly, corrupt bureaucrat and continue pushing a system of contracts that undercut fair competition. When coupling that with FedBid\u2019s engagement in\u00a0inherently governmental \u00a0functions, I would call upon VA to examine whether FedBid remains a \u2018responsible contractor.\u2019\u201d\nPressure from Coffman could spell trouble for both Taylor and FedBid. Although Taylor has reportedly been reassigned within VA, McDonald has pegged his tenure as the new VA secretary on a commitment to hold VA employees accountable and remain transparent about the steps the agency takes to ensure clear cases of wrongdoing are punished.\nFor FedBid, a company backed by powerful financiers and a laundry list of former high-level government officials, the fallout could be even worse. The company supports 17 other federal agencies and departments. Although\u00a0determinations of nonresponsibility are award-specific, analysts say it could set the stage for a broader look at FedBid Inc.\u2019s business dealings with VA and even other agencies, which could lead to discussion about suspension or debarment for either the company or specific executives.\nAccording to the Congressional Research Service, decisions to exclude a vendor are made by agency heads or their designees \u201cbased upon evidence that contractors have committed certain integrity offenses, including any offenses indicating a lack of business integrity or honesty that seriously affect the present responsibility of a contractor.\u201d\nA source at the VA Office of the Inspector General told FedScoop that FedBid\u2019s previous statement that its reverse auction services \u201cstimulated competition that\u00a0resulted in lower prices for VHA\u201d is\u00a0not supported by the facts presented by another VA IG report issued on the same day as the report detailing the misdeeds of Taylor and other FedBid executives. According to the IG, that companion report, Review of the Veterans Health Administraion's Use of REverse Auction Acquisitions\u00a0\u201caddressed the contract itself and found that the cost savings were overstated and may have limited competition.\u201d\nLorraine Campos, a partner in the government contracts\u00a0& grants team at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Reed Smith, said\u00a0federal agencies \u201cought to proceed with caution in touting savings from reverse auctions\u201d in the wake of the VA IG reports. \u201cWhile reverse auctions promise dramatic savings, such promises may only be smoke and mirrors,\u201d Campos said. \u201cOnce transaction fees are factored in, the actual amount an agency saves may not be as dramatic as anticipated. Moreover, since reverse auctions only consider pricing, rather than value, agencies may not get the \u2018bang for the buck\u2019 through these mechanisms.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141003023428/http://coffman.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/congressman-demands-action-on-va-fedbid-scandal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9310535863041878, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}