In an April 1, 2020 letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord, a bipartisan group from Ohio’s congressional delegation (including both senators) asked the Defense Department to provide more guidance to line contracting officials, so that they can deal effectively with contractors in the COVID-19 crisis. The letter noted:
We appreciate the guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the last two weeks as well as the memorandum released by Under Secretary Lord on March 20, 2020 regarding designation of the Defense Industrial Base as Essential Critical Infrastructure. Despite the prompt release of this instruction, we are concerned that guidance to the defense contractor workforce remains ambiguous and lacks uniformity in application.
The letter asked for specific guidance on handling employees (allowing them to telework, for example), and on how to seek financial relief (if necessary) under Section 3610 of the CARES Act:
In the event working on-site or telework is not possible, direct contracting officers to exercise the available authorities found in OMB Memorandum M-20-17 [NB: probably should be M-20-18] and Section 3610, Federal Contractor Authority of the CARES Act of 2020 to maintain a source of cashflow to keep this vital workforce intact and prevent avoidable reductions in forces during this crisis.
The letter noted that the DoD policy of leaving these decisions to the discretion of individual contracting officers — a potentially critical problem in deploying contractor relief under Section 3610 — had created uncertainty in a time of crisis:
Thus far, the DoD policy of delegating key decision-making authorities to the lowest levels has caused the contractor workforce great concern because of uncertain, and often conflicting guidance. The defense contractor community needs stability and continuity in this time of crisis and these steps will enable contractors to meet their obligations while protecting their workforce.
The Defense Department issued an initial memorandum on implementation of Section 3610 on March 30, 2020, and further guidance is expected.
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