Justice Department Cleaners Win 15 Percent Raise

The report deals not just with discipline, but also with measures intended to prevent violations before they happen. The report urges effective training for supervisors on "how to handle potential disciplinary issues early."

Another important factor in preventing abuses is the involvement of bosses, the report says. "It is extremely valuable for the agency head to demonstrate an active involvement in the prevention of conduct inconsistent with antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws," the report says.

End of Certification

The Small Business Administration has stopped certifying that firms qualify as a "small disadvantaged business" when they seek government contracts. The designation was necessary for companies to win contracts even if their bids were 10 percent higher than those from other companies.

Authority to use the advantage ended for most agencies in 2004. The Defense Department, NASA, and the Coast Guard continued to have the power to implement the benefit. But the Pentagon, which represents about 68 percent of federal procurement, met its goal for buying from small and disadvantaged business for the last six years without using it.

That meant firms had to go through the time and expense of the certification process, sometimes paying big bucks to other companies for help with the application, even though the program was no longer used.

"Federal procuring agencies have expressed concerns of having firms go through the time and expense of the SDB certification process when there is little-to-no benefit," an SBA statement says.

Federal purchases from those firms rose to $25 billion in fiscal year 2007 from $6.2 billion in fiscal 1999, according to the SBA. That represents a growth in federal procurement of 6.6 percent from 3.3 percent. The goal is 5 percent.

Contact Joe Davidson atfederaldiary@washpost.com.