[Goose]

The $1 a year is stupid.  Warp speed has a budget of $10 billion and will influence federal spending of several times that.  Paying Slaoui 6 figures would be a rounding error.  Even paying him market rate is a small expense compared to the overall amount a stake.

True, but doing so would have made him liable to disclosure and divestment. He wasn't willing to do that. That is why he works for a dollar. This is a time-honored dodge going back at least 90 years.

I've had to fill out conflict of interest disclosure forms in the past, and they're not that impossible.

Not to quibble (much), but were they Federal forms for a GS job? Are you aware of the possible legal implications of making an misrepresentation? At one point my wife was considering it. These forms basically sealed the deal of "no way". We are far from "rich", but even for the average person it is a big PITA. Not to mention that she would have been required to sell a bunch of stock with what she thought was a big upside. 

For someone like me, I have almost everything in index funds, and I was just required to disclose the funds (not their individual components).  For someone like Slaoui, he almost certainly has an accountant that can prepare the documents for him.

Yes, but why do it? You are doing your country a favor and they are treating you like a criminal before you even work there. Not only that, but if somebody doesn't like how a contract award went, they can still sue because you knew what the index fund owned from "talk on the street".

If you own stock in companies covered by Warp Speed, it is a tailor-made recipe for conflict of interest. Even if you behaved perfectly, the other companies may not stand for it. For that reason, I think disclosure is sufficient.

Isn't this exactly why you shouldn't allow the conflicts?  Nobody is going to want to make waves about potential conflicts while they are still in the running, for fear of antagonizing Slaoui. But, as soon as the contracts are awarded to someone else, those companies may turn around and sue for a flawed process, which runs the risk of slowing down the whole thing.  Just look at what happened with the JEDI program and Amazon when Microsoft was awarded the DoD contract and untoward influence was alleged.

BC

Lawsuits are an issue for sure. However, as the example you cite shows, the Government can't insulate themselves from these suits even if everything "looks" on the up-and-up.

I know am not going to "win" this argument. We are moving towards more regulation and disclosure, not less. Unfortunately, it is driving many good people away from government service. There is also no evidence that I am aware of that shows our government is making better decisions as a result. In fact, I would argue the opposite.

[Goose]

The $1 a year is stupid.  Warp speed has a budget of $10 billion and will influence federal spending of several times that.  Paying Slaoui 6 figures would be a rounding error.  Even paying him market rate is a small expense compared to the overall amount a stake.

True, but doing so would have made him liable to disclosure and divestment. He wasn't willing to do that. That is why he works for a dollar. This is a time-honored dodge going back at least 90 years.

I've had to fill out conflict of interest disclosure forms in the past, and they're not that impossible.

Not to quibble (much), but were they Federal forms for a GS job? Are you aware of the possible legal implications of making an misrepresentation? At one point my wife was considering it. These forms basically sealed the deal of "no way". We are far from "rich", but even for the average person it is a big PITA. Not to mention that she would have been required to sell a bunch of stock with what she thought was a big upside. 

For someone like me, I have almost everything in index funds, and I was just required to disclose the funds (not their individual components).  For someone like Slaoui, he almost certainly has an accountant that can prepare the documents for him.

Yes, but why do it? You are doing your country a favor and they are treating you like a criminal before you even work there. Not only that, but if somebody doesn't like how a contract award went, they can still sue because you knew what the index fund owned from "talk on the street".

If you own stock in companies covered by Warp Speed, it is a tailor-made recipe for conflict of interest. Even if you behaved perfectly, the other companies may not stand for it. For that reason, I think disclosure is sufficient.

Isn't this exactly why you shouldn't allow the conflicts?  Nobody is going to want to make waves about potential conflicts while they are still in the running, for fear of antagonizing Slaoui. But, as soon as the contracts are awarded to someone else, those companies may turn around and sue for a flawed process, which runs the risk of slowing down the whole thing.  Just look at what happened with the JEDI program and Amazon when Microsoft was awarded the DoD contract and untoward influence was alleged.

BC

Lawsuits are an issue for sure. However, as the example you cite shows, the Government can't insulate themselves from these suits even if everything "looks" on the up-and-up.

I know am not going to "win" this argument. We are moving towards more regulation and disclosure, not less. Unfortunately, it is driving many good people away from government service. There is also no evidence that I am aware of that shows our government is making better decisions as a result. In fact, I would argue the opposite.