# Freedom from Government Competition Act of 2023

This bill would require the federal government to buy goods and services from private companies instead of having government agencies produce them in-house. The core idea is that private businesses are more efficient and cost-effective than government operations, so the government should outsource most of its needs rather than doing the work itself. For example, instead of a federal agency maintaining its own cafeteria, printing services, or IT support, it would have to contract with private companies to provide these services.

The bill applies a broad rule: federal agencies must purchase from the private sector unless there's a specific reason not to. The main exceptions are activities that are legally required to be done by the government, services critical to national defense or homeland security, work that's so inherently governmental in nature that it must stay in-house, or situations where no private company can provide the service. Agency heads would need to justify to Congress why they're keeping any work in-house rather than outsourcing it. This means government employees currently doing these jobs could potentially lose their positions as work gets transferred to private contractors.

The bill would also require the Office of Management and Budget to study which government activities could be moved to the private sector and create a five-year plan to transfer commercial work out of government. This could affect thousands of federal employees whose jobs involve providing services that private companies could theoretically handle, from maintenance and security to administrative support and specialized services. The practical impact would likely be significant job losses in the federal workforce, though supporters argue it would save taxpayer money by using more efficient private providers.

Freedom from Government Competition Act of 2023

Bean, Aaron

Freedom from Government Competition Act of 2023 This bill requires the federal government to procure from the private sector the goods and services necessary for the operations and management of government agencies. Specifically, it requires each executive or military department or independent establishment to obtain all goods and services necessary for or beneficial to the accomplishment of its authorized functions by procurement from private sources, with specified exceptions, such as where there is no private source capable of providing the good or service. The bill requires such private sector provision of goods and services to be performed through (1) the divestiture of federal involvement, (2) the award of a contract using competitive procedures, or (3) conducting a public-private competitive sourcing analysis in accordance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures and determining that using the private sector is in the best interest of the United States and provides the best value to the taxpayer. An agency may utilize federal employees to provide goods or services previously provided by a private sector entity upon completion of a public-private competitive sourcing analysis and after determining that provision by federal employees provides the best value. The OMB must carry out a study to evaluate the activities carried out in each agency.