FFRDCs

[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/

[Anonymous]

RAND is the Chicken Little of AI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is very common for 8(a). start looking into the work and maybe a handful are really doing something. White collar subsidy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is very common for 8(a). start looking into the work and maybe a handful are really doing something. White collar subsidy?

Yes, everyone says it's common, but if you actually have specific knowledge of it, you should be reporting it, not posting here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just want a CEO who isn’t associated w/ some batshit EA cult and isn’t hijacking a 75-year-old brand to LARP as the world’s savior from the AI robot apocalypse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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

Apparently, not an issue for the continued nepotism hires at MITRE!. Plenty of full-time and internship positions for the children, siblings and spouses of employees. The more the better!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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[/quote

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just want a CEO who isn’t associated w/ some batshit EA cult and isn’t hijacking a 75-year-old brand to LARP as the world’s savior from the AI robot apocalypse.

Is Mitre's CEO part of a cult? I'm confused.

[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.

Concur.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

Apparently, not an issue for the continued nepotism hires at MITRE!. Plenty of full-time and internship positions for the children, siblings and spouses of employees. The more the better!

Mitre has major nepo issues: spouses and in-laws as direct reports; wives with no college degree mysteriously rising from to L5, or in one case, L6 Department Manager; kids with barely a community college education getting plum L4 engineering roles over experienced SMEs.

[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.

This is an apples to zucchini comparison. What does small business fraud have to do with FFRDC SME expertise? One is illegal and one is just expensive.