There is increasing public scrutiny of the size and role of contractors supporting the federal government. Deepwater and Blackwater are the most recent cases. Earlier this year, The New York Times wrote addresses the unquantified contractor work force. Paul C. Light of New York University says that the government has made no effort to count contractors or assess the true costs and benefits of using contractors versus government staff. He believes the shift to contractors is driven in part by federal personnel ceilings. He calls such ceilings a “sleight of hand” intended to allow successive administrations to brag about cutting the federal work force.

As visibility increases due to the Federal Financial Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006, will the public demand and Congress require even more information about how the government does its work?