DOD Use of Other Transaction Authority: Background, Analysis, And Issues for Congress
DOD Use of Other Transaction Authority: Background, Analysis, And Issues for Congress
Summary
Congressional Research Service report R45521, "Department of Defense Use of Other Transaction Authority: Background, Analysis, and Issues for Congress" (updated February 22, 2019, by Moshe Schwartz and Heidi M. Peters). It explains what OT agreements are, how they are generally exempt from federal procurement laws and regulations, and the two authorities then codified at 10 U.S.C. 2371 (research) and 2371b (prototype and follow-on production), including the nontraditional-contractor, cost-share, and competition conditions. It weighs OT benefits and risks, notes DoD obligated $2.1 billion on prototype OTs in FY2017 (under 1% of obligations), and raises data, oversight, and policy issues for Congress.