Defense Contractor Competition Act

The Defense Contractor Competition Act would require the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct a formal assessment of how mergers and acquisitions among defense contractors have affected competition and the defense industrial base. The GAO would produce a report analyzing (1) how effective any remedies used in defense-related mergers have been for maintaining competition and base sustainability; (2) how well information sharing works among the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Defense during merger reviews; (3) how the Defense Department currently measures the impact of vertical integration on competition, including data collection and access to information from merging contractors to assess anticompetitive practices; and (4) how past recommendations from the GAO, the Defense Department, or the Defense Science Board to boost competition have been implemented. The assessment covers a ten-year period before the act’s enactment and is to be reported to the congressional defense committees.