H.R. 6861 would require program managers within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to notify the corresponding Component Acquisition Executive, the designated senior DHS acquisition official, and the Executive Director of the Program Accountability and Risk Management office when a major acquisition program fails to satisfy any cost, schedule, or performance threshold specified in the most recently approved program baseline (defined as a breach). The bill would require the Under Secretary for Management to notify the Congress about the breach and pause all activities related to the program until a remediation plan is approved and submitted to the Congress, among other administrative requirements.
In a March 2022 report, the Government Accountability Office identified three DHS major acquisition programs in breach status as of September 2021; under H.R. 6861, such programs would be subject to activity restrictions until a remediation plan is approved.
Based on that information, CBO expects that such pauses in activity would be brief and infrequent, and CBO estimates that DHS would not incur significant administrative costs to comply with the reporting and remediation plan requirements under the bill over the 2022-2027 period. Any such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriations.
