Defense Department acquisition chief Frank Kendall has decided to withdraw his legislative proposal seeking greater agency oversight of merger and acquisition activities between defense companies, Defense News reported Tuesday.
Aaron Mehta writes Kendall made the decision after the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department verified his office’s scope of authority on industry consolidation efforts.
He told audience at a Center for Strategic and International Studies-hosted forum Tuesday he thought DoD had less discretion than it actually does.
“I am now persuaded that [legislation] is not needed,” he added, according to the report.
At the CSIS event, Kendall also commented on ongoing efforts of the House and Senate Armed Services committees to reform the department’s acquisition system, Breaking Defense’s Sydney Freedberg Jr. reports.
The report said he is concerned about a proposal that would give service chiefs more power to decide on weapon acquisition programs because he thinks many of them do not have enough contracting or engineering experience.