DHS Acquisition Accountability and Efficiency Act
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
DHS Acquisition Accountability and Efficiency Act
Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to reform acquisition and procurement programs and activities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Prohibits the authorization of appropriations of additional funds to carry out this Act.
Title I: Acquisition Authorities - Designates the Under Secretary for Management of DHS as the DHS Chief Acquisition Officer. Sets forth the duties and responsibilities of the Under Secretary related to acquisition, including: (1) advising the DHS Secretary on acquisition management activities; (2) exercising the authority to approve, halt, modify, or cancel a major acquisition program (defined as a program estimated to require an eventual total expenditure of at least $300 million over its life cycle cost); (3) establishing policies for acquisition; (4) ensuring that each major acquisition program has a DHS-approved acquisition program baseline (i.e., the summary of the cost, schedule, and performance parameters, expressed in standard, measurable, quantitative terms, which must be met in order to accomplish program goals), pursuant to DHS's acquisition management policy; (5) ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations; and (6) distributing guidance to ensure that contractors adhere to internal cybersecurity policies established by DHS.
Permits the Under Secretary to delegate acquisition authority in writing to the relevant Component Acquisition Executive (i.e. senior acquisition official within a DHS Component with authority and responsibility for leading a process and staff to provide acquisition and program management oversight, policy, and guidance) for an acquisition program with a specified life cycle cost.
Requires the DHS Office of Program Analysis and Evaluation to provide leadership over financial management policy and programs for DHS as they relate to DHS's acquisition programs, in consultation with the Under Secretary for Management.
Sets forth the acquisition responsibilities of the Chief Information Officer of DHS, including to: (1) serve as the lead technical authority for information technology programs and establish departmental information technology priorities, policies, processes, standards, guidelines, and procedures; (2) oversee the management of the Homeland Security Enterprise Architecture; (3) make recommendations to the Acquisition Review Board (established by this Act) on the information technology programs; and (4) be responsible for developing information technology acquisition strategic guidance.
The summary continues for 16 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 1, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 1, 2015: Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Scott Perry (R-PA) introduced it on May 1, 2015, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 1, 2015, 4150 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4150 days ago, on May 1, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers