I think what we saw that was concerning in the creation of the national master standing offer was the justification for the exception. There's nothing wrong with the government wanting the best solution, but it's the methodology used to create the pathway to achieve that best solution. Here I would argue that there are exceptions under the government contracting regulations cited. It's 6(d), where “only one person” can perform...which was cited to allow for the creation of the national master standing offer. However, the rationale was limited to the tools that McKinsey offers. It was the rationalization of why we need the McKinsey tools rather than the governmental objective. The governmental objective should have been the focus, and then saying only one supplier could meet that governmental objective would have been an appropriate understanding of the rationalization. However, that's not what we saw.
On April 29th, 2024. See this statement in context.