The IRS has granted a $4.5 million contract to the Canadian company that was fired by the Department of Health and Human Services as a result of its role in the botched rollout of the Obamacare website, a decision which has drawn scrutiny and outrage from lawmakers.
"It is completely ridiculous. You would think that with all the back experience with the disappointment on HealthCare.gov, the fact that they were fired from Massachusetts and Vermont.
"It is just right out of central casting in terms of a caricature of an agency that would do such a thing," Illinois Rep. Peter Roskam said referring to the IRS awarding CGI Federal a contract to provide "critical functions" to the agency so it can fulfill its responsibilities under the Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA).
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Appearing last night on Fox News' "On the Record," Roskam said he learned of the contract from press reports, adding that the decision shows how "tone deaf and unaware" the IRS is concerning the impression it is leaving.
The Daily Caller was first to report news that the IRS had hired the controversial tech firm.
"There is a massive disconnect between how the IRS generally understands how it is perceived by the American public. There is no excuse for it," Roskam told "On the Record" host Greta Van Susteren.
Roskam, who serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight,
sent a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen on Jan. 23 requesting all internal communications regarding the decision, as well as any requests for proposals (RFPs) and documents the IRS used to evaluate CGI's application.
In his letter, Roskam said the IRS has "publicly stated concerns about resource challenges" and sought "assurance that taxpayer dollars are being put to their highest and best use."
In September 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded CGI Federal a $93.7 million contract to create and test the HealthCare.gov website, the launch of which was riddled with errors and raised troubling questions about gaps in the site's security and privacy protections.
Upon further scrutiny, it was learned that CMS contracting officials had downplayed the fact that the company had mishandled at least 20 government information technology projects, including a well-publicized scandal involving a $36 million contract given for work related to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board's overhaul of its record-keeping system,
according to The Washington Post.
On Jan. 20, the
HHS Inspector General released a report which found that the department had bypassed key contracting requirements and had failed to properly examine the past performance of CGI Federal, a subsidiary of a Canadian information technology firm.
According to the inspector general's report, the department failed to fully comply with the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which requires contracting officials to review bidders' past performance, including the past performance of their predecessor companies.
The report found that the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) "did not perform thorough reviews of contractor past performance when awarding two key contracts" and "also made contracting decisions that may have limited the number of acceptable proposals for much of the key Federal Marketplace work.
"In addition, CMS selected contract types that placed the risk of cost increases for this work solely on the Government."
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