By GAUTHAM NAGESH, NextGov
President Obama's pick to lead the General Services Administration is a strong choice with a solid information technology background, industry analysts said on Monday. But if confirmed, Martha Johnson will have her hands full managing the billions in stimulus funds set aside to renovate and upgrade federal buildings, they noted.
Obama announced Johnson's nomination on Friday evening. Johnson, currently vice president of culture at Computer Sciences Corp., an IT consulting firm in Falls Church, Va., would succeed Lurita A. Doan, who resigned last May as GSA administrator. Paul Prouty, a 38-year veteran of the agency, has been serving as acting administrator since late January and before that, Jim Williams and David Bibb held the interim position.
Doan said Johnson is well-prepared for the demanding job.
"President Obama is going to be especially dependent upon GSA to help implement his agenda -- to simultaneously modernize federal buildings, expand the fleet of federal autos and ramp up unprecedented levels of federal spending," Doan said.
Johnson is no stranger to GSA. She served as the agency's chief of staff from 1996 to 2001 under then-administrator David Barram, and she was co-chair of the Obama transition team that assessed the agency.
"She's a good person and a sound choice," said Larry Allen, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement. "It's always good to have somebody as administrator who doesn't need 'GSA 101.' "
Through her transition work Johnson is fairly up-to-speed on what is happening at GSA and the challenges she would face as administrator, Allen said. But he noted that her last two jobs have been with IT firms, while most of her initial work as GSA chief likely would be related to the Public Buildings Service, which is responsible for spending the more than $5 billion in stimulus funds set aside to renovate federal facilities.
"I think she'll have her hands full with that, but she won't completely ignore the federal acquisition service," Allen said.
Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge office for the McLean, Va., consulting firm FedSources, agreed that the stimulus spending would dominate Johnson's time at first, but said eventually she would have to address ongoing weaknesses in GSA's Federal Supply Schedules program. Doan established a blue-ribbon panel last year to examine the schedules, which are catalogs of pre-negotiated contracts available governmentwide. The panel has spent the past year discussing potential changes to the program and its recommendations are expected in the next month.
"I really think there ought to be more review and rethinking of the schedules program," Bjorklund said. "They probably need to expand it and make it more convenient" to buy services like financial management and accounting.
The recent proliferation of multiple-award contract vehicles among the agencies is strong evidence GSA needs to update its image as the government's central procurement office, he added. The absence of activity on GSA contract vehicles like the Networx telecommunications agreement is evidence the agency must do more to market the programs and improve customer service, he said.
"Some agencies are questioning whether [GSA's] products and services are really the best on the block," Bjorklund said. "I'm not passing judgment, but if agencies aren't marching to the doors of GSA then it suggests GSA needs to do a better job marketing, fix their product and service lines, their processes or something else."
Allen said he expects Johnson to strengthen the relationship between GSA headquarters and the regional offices. "Her last tour of duty at GSA featured a time when some regions showed a lot of autonomy and GSA had to rein them in," Allen said. Johnson might try a similar approach this time, he said.
To post a comment, you must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. Messages must be limited to 400 words. By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Lost in Transition does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.
Responded on January 1, 2012 9:29 PM
cameron7
Mitt Romney predicted Sunday that President Obama’s re-election strategy of blaming Congress for policy gridlock will backfire, and also took aim at the president’s. National Journal - Washington’s premier source of nonpartisan insight on politics and policy. Thanks for sharing the informative post.
Regards,
rapid fire modded xbox 360 controller
Responded on December 23, 2011 1:35 PM
cameron7
The prime minister told Kurdish authorities Wednesday to hand over the vice president, who fled to the semiautonomous region to escape an arrest warrant on charges. Thanks for sharing the information.
Regards,
it services san Francisco
Responded on December 23, 2011 1:29 AM
vindiesal
Loved to read your blog. I would like to suggest you that traffic show most people read blogs on Mondays. So it should encourage blogger to write new write ups over the weekend primarily. medical school personal statement
Responded on December 22, 2011 1:44 PM
cameron7
The General Services Administration must know its clients, meet their needs through innovation and do it well, Martha Johnson, the new GSA administrator. It allows us to provide environmental advisory services to federal agencies. Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
hair salon web design
Responded on December 22, 2011 5:34 AM
Jonah
Prior to assuming his current position, Donley served as the Director of Administration and Management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense упражнения для похудения живота и бедер
Responded on December 22, 2011 4:36 AM
cameron7
The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Federal Facilities provides programmatic and regulatory oversight of the U.S. Department of Energy's. Thanks for sharing the informative post.
Regards,
customremodelers-siding.com
Responded on December 21, 2011 12:05 PM
cameron7
It included various tax and spend adjustments to bring long-run government tax revenue and spending into line at approximately, Government spending includes all government consumption, investment but excludes transfer payments made by a state.
Regards,
Tolani
Responded on December 20, 2011 9:00 AM
cameron7
Gary Johnson is running for the Republican nomination for president but only Doug Mataconis has noticed. So, he’s thinking about running for the Libertarian nomination. Thanks for sharing the informative post.
Regards,
buy youtube comments
Responded on December 19, 2011 1:28 PM
похудения бородины
I know that it is the perfect decision by President Obama and she is the perfect choice
Responded on December 19, 2011 1:23 PM
похудения бородины
"I think she'll have her hands full with that, but she won't completely ignore the federal acquisition service," Allen said.
Responded on December 19, 2011 5:45 AM
cameron7
The founder of an energy company that benefited from deals involving hundreds of millions in stimulus money made the maximum donation allowable to President Obama's inauguration, Thanks for sharing the informative post.
Regards,
wedding hair Detroit
Responded on December 14, 2011 6:33 AM
cameron7
National Journal delivers the latest political news and analysis. As House speaker, Newt Gingrich was known for bouncing from one idea to another. I like to discuss more about this thanks for sharing the informative post.
Regards,
Chinese Tractors Australia
Responded on December 8, 2011 4:06 AM
heluxtech
vERY NICE POST. I've read this
post and if I may I desire to suggest you some interesting things or
suggestions.
heluxtech
Responded on December 2, 2011 10:53 AM
resume help
I really enjoyed this great post that you have offered for us. I assure this would be useful for most of the individuals.
Responded on November 25, 2011 1:25 AM
vindisel
Hey! I simply want to give a huge thumbs up for the good information you've gotten here on this post. I will probably be coming again to your blog for extra soon.
top essay writing services
Responded on November 12, 2011 1:01 PM
wholesale designer handbags
Your articles are all very good!Write very deeply!I will make my friends all come to see!At the same time, I also hope that you like my luxury handbags website!
Responded on November 5, 2011 7:00 AM
susanna
Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your site is so cool. I'm impressed by the details that you've on this web site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and just couldn't come across. What an ideal web-site. we've got many new users here who recently got an Apple iPod touch or an www.itunes.com/download. To use it you must first download and www.itunes.com. The instructions to download it and install it are below.
Responded on November 2, 2011 2:54 AM
onlinesolutionproviders
It's the best time
to make a few plans for the future and it's time to be happy. I've read this
post and if I may I desire to suggest you some interesting things or
suggestions.
online accounting
Responded on October 20, 2011 11:41 PM
UGG Mayfaire
Nice one, there is actually some good points on this blog some of my readers may find this useful, I must send a link, many thanks.
Responded on September 23, 2011 12:18 PM
James
Just in time I'm done fixing some bugs on our job Seek site, just a good start for the new administration of Obama. Well, he is the newly elected President of the U.S.A, therefore, he got the power of whatever he wants to do with his cabinet members.
Responded on September 21, 2011 2:53 AM
jimmy
birkin bag in this Rank are produced from brought in set. They can indeed be sophisticatedly mass produced: Behaviour and even styles appear to be looked at mindfully. They seem roughly a bit like the certain old ones. This sort of primary involving Handbags is reasonably utilized by possible fans and patrons significantly assist discount prices after which reputable. Items utilized can consist of: top quality sturdy supplies not to mention accents employing brought in natural leather plus equipment.
Responded on August 22, 2011 5:28 AM
Abbigail Cramse
I must agree with the above comments that's why I prefer to read these informative info than make money on street. These kind of post are always inspiring and I prefer to read quality content so I happy to find many good point here in the post, writing is simply great, thank you for the post.
Responded on August 15, 2011 1:21 AM
miccrigs
This is a really good read for me. Must agree that you are one of the coolest blogger I ever saw. Thanks for posting this useful information. This was just what I was on looking for. I'll come back to this blog for sure and will get backlinks for this! I bookmarked this blog a while ago because of the useful content and I am never being disappointed. Keep up the good work
Responded on August 5, 2011 6:33 AM
Chris
We really not too familiar with this subject but we the UK jobs and US jobs developer do like to visit blogs for layout ideas. You really expanded upon a subject that I usually don’t care much about and made it very exciting. This is a unique blog that I will take note of. I already bookmarked it for future reference. Thank you..
Responded on July 19, 2011 7:14 AM
Aaliyah George
Comments from builders Melbourne|builders Perth ...This is a really good read for me. Must agree that you are one of the coolest blogger I ever saw. Thanks for posting this useful information. This was just what I was on looking for. I'll come back to this blog for sure! I bookmarked this blog a while ago because of the useful content and I am never being disappointed. Keep up the good work
Responded on July 14, 2011 10:04 AM
Mikey
This particular article provides the gentle where by we are able to take notice of the actuality. This can be really nice one particular and give in-depth data. Many thanks for this decent content. I have an interest on reading article regarding political versions.cudo brisbane
Responded on May 20, 2011 12:52 AM
Allen Santiago
I have read Martha's job profile and education background. And by going through it, I know that it is the perfect decision by President Obama and she is the perfect choice for GSA.
iPhone App Development
Responded on February 18, 2011 1:23 AM
ryanss
Martha Johnson will have her hands full managing the billions in stimulus funds set aside to renovate and upgrade federal buildings, they noted. cheap watches