Action: The Defense Department will implement a comprehensive program of competitive contracting non-core functions competitively.29 The Defense Department is another agency in which necessity is becoming the mother of invention. Facing a swiftly falling budget, the department literally can't afford to do things in its usual way--especially when private firms can perform DOD's non-core functions better, cheaper, and faster. Functions such as command, deployment, or rotation of troops cannot be contracted, of course. But data processing, billing, payroll, and the like certainly can. Private firms--including many defense contractors--contract out such functions. General Dynamics, for instance, has contracted with Computer Services Corporation to provide all its information technology functions, data center operations, and networking. But at the Pentagon, a bias against out-sourcing remains strong. Only a commitment by senior leaders will overcome that bias. In addition to the cultural barriers at the Pentagon, numerous statutory roadblocks exist. In section 312 of the fiscal year 1993 DOD Authorization Act, for example, Congress stopped DOD from shifting any more in-house work to contractors. Another law requires agencies to obtain their construction and design services from the Army Corps of Engineers or Naval Facilities Engineering Command. The administration should draft legislation to remove both of these roadblocks. It will also make contracting easier by rescinding its orders on the performance of commercial activities and issuing a new order, to establish a policy supporting the acquisition of goods and services in the most economical manner possible. OMB will review Circular A-76, which governs contracting out, for potential changes that would simplify the contracting process and increase the flexibility of managers.