FFRDCs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IARPA was a mess between 2015 and 2018 once the director seized total control and gutted the office directors. It was an unmitigated disaster.

Matheny has quite the track record, apparently! I had heard the criticism about the lack of leadership of a larger organization, but the implication had been that previous leadership of places like IARPA had not been problematic.

This thread is about FFRDCs, not IARPA.

Jason Matheny, who is the current CEO of RAND, was the head of IARPA during the timeframe being referenced in the description, "once the director seized total control and gutted the office directors. It was an unmitigated disaster."

[Anonymous]

I use to work at RAND and found the CEO to be nice and reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hegseth is scrutinizing and cutting many 8(a) small business contracts with the Pentagon and I wonder if FFRDC work is next?

What are some examples?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use to work at RAND and found the CEO to be nice and reasonable.

Michael Rich was nice and reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hegseth is scrutinizing and cutting many 8(a) small business contracts with the Pentagon and I wonder if FFRDC work is next?

What are some examples?

https://www.washingtontechnology.com/contracts/2026/01/pentagon-launches-wide-8-review-targeting-billions-awards/410797/

[Anonymous]

uaw.org

[Anonymous]

The effects of the DOGE cuts a year ago are still being felt in the DC workforce (including FFRDCs). Many local lives were unnecessarily upended and many have yet to recover.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/07/washington-dc-highly-qualified-workers-unemployment

[Anonymous]

RAND’s situation seems to have went off the rails when its then-new CEO accepted funding from donors to help shape the Biden administration’s AI executive order (based on this reporting https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/15/billionaire-backed-think-tank-played-key-role-in-bidens-ai-order-00132128), then apparently used donor money to write public comments in support of policies to implement this same EO (here's an example https://www.regulations.gov/comment/NIST-2024-0001-0049).

For a while, all this gave leadership major influence and visibility. But when Trump returned to office, he scrapped the EO, and took aim at RAND, this strategy quickly unraveled. In hindsight, it looks like a series of avoidable missteps by leadership.

[Anonymous]

CNA's IPR division is riding out $150k+ staff on overhead.

Not sure how long that will last.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CNA's IPR division is riding out $150k+ staff on overhead.

Not sure how long that will last.

What does "riding out" mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hegseth is scrutinizing and cutting many 8(a) small business contracts with the Pentagon and I wonder if FFRDC work is next?

What are some examples?

I work for a defense agency that awards 1000s of contracts a day and 8(a) SB contracts are full of fraud. It looks like an easy white color subsidy rather than selecting a company that is capable of doing the work.

FFRDCs have a lot of bloat and the overhead and FTE charges are crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:RAND’s situation seems to have went off the rails when its then-new CEO accepted funding from donors to help shape the Biden administration’s AI executive order (based on this reporting https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/15/billionaire-backed-think-tank-played-key-role-in-bidens-ai-order-00132128), then apparently used donor money to write public comments in support of policies to implement this same EO (here's an example https://www.regulations.gov/comment/NIST-2024-0001-0049).

For a while, all this gave leadership major influence and visibility. But when Trump returned to office, he scrapped the EO, and took aim at RAND, this strategy quickly unraveled. In hindsight, it looks like a series of avoidable missteps by leadership.

One reason we stopped sending work there was the perception of advocacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA's IPR division is riding out $150k+ staff on overhead.

Not sure how long that will last.

What does "riding out" mean?

Going from a government contract, direct billable to overhead, since contracts have been lost, not recompeted, or just stopped.

Some junior, mid, and senior staff have been laid off. Some senior staff with center-lead responsibilities (with over 10-15 years within the IPR division) are on overhead...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hegseth is scrutinizing and cutting many 8(a) small business contracts with the Pentagon and I wonder if FFRDC work is next?

What are some examples?

I work for a defense agency that awards 1000s of contracts a day and 8(a) SB contracts are full of fraud. It looks like an easy white color subsidy rather than selecting a company that is capable of doing the work.

FFRDCs have a lot of bloat and the overhead and FTE charges are crazy.

If you know about fraud, you should report fraud.

[Anonymous]

https://www.dodig.mil/Components/Administrative-Investigations/DoD-Hotline/