The AbilityOne program is coming under new scrutiny for allegedly skirting the Buy American Act and other federal acquisition regulations.

The General Services Administration is asking the commission and its partners like the National Industries for the Blind and SourceAmerica to submit a report by mid-November detailing how they are ensuring they are following federal acquisition laws and regulations.

“GSA adheres to the highest standards for Buy American Act compliance and has detected potential areas of concern with the AbilityOne Program that necessitate the request for a comprehensive review,” wrote GSA Administrator Ed Forst in a letter to the AbilityOne Commission and its partners. “For example, on the [commission’s] product list (PL), GSA has found multiple examples of AbilityOne associated technology products labeled on GSA procurement platforms as ‘country of origin: USA’ that are, in fact, from China and other foreign countries. Federal agencies, including the Department of [Defense] are required to procure these critical technology products from AbilityOne, raising both potential cyber risks and national security concerns.”

GSA is asking the commission to submit a report by Nov. 12 that includes:

• All items offered for sale to ensure that all are listed accurately and with the correct COO in the Federal Acquisition Service Verified Product Portal.
• Any products with accurate COOs that are currently certified as “N/A” or “ZZ.”
• Documentation on how the commission will complete continuous reviews.

“In light of this, GSA requests that the commission promptly conduct a full audit of all items offered for sale through GSA and related procurement data to verify COO representations, pricing, sourcing and compliance with applicable law and policy,” Forst wrote. “Such an audit is necessary to provide transparency and accountability to the American people, protect the integrity of federal procurement and ensure that taxpayer dollars are not supporting inaccurate or misleading claims.”

In a statement, the AbilityOne Commission said they support the administration’s goals and priorities.

“Throughout this administration, the commission has been working closely with GSA on a wide range of issues related to the AbilityOne Program. The commission will review the letter and looks forward to continuing its longstanding and constructive partnership with GSA to create quality employment opportunities through the AbilityOne Program for 41,000 Americans, including veterans, who are blind or have significant disabilities,” the commission stated.

In the letter, GSA highlighted several instances where the commission allegedly mislabeled products’ country of origin as the United States, but in fact was China or Taiwan or Vietnam.

Another concern GSA highlighted through the National Council on Disability, was the pay of non-disabled people who lead the nonprofits associated with AbilityOne.

GSA said the average disabled worker made $33,000 a year, while the typical CEO’s compensation ranged from $500,000 to $1 million.

The agency also says it found instances of products with “inflated price markups” of up to 55%. GSA says higher than expected prices is “likely contributing to curiously high executive compensation for non-disabled nonprofit leadership, and prior False Claims Act lawsuits.”

A former federal official familiar with the AbilityOne program pushed back against most of GSA’s claims.

The official, who requested anonymity because they still work closely with GSA and other agencies, said the letter is an “attack on the AbilityOne program.”

“Early on in this administration, we’ve heard commentary for certain political appointments that the AbilityOne program flooding the market with Chinese-made products, and the sourcing of products from foreign countries was not acceptable. But none of that is true. The AbilityOne Commission and its partners source from the same sources as anyone in the commercial sector,” the former official said. “Many of the AbilityOne Commission partners have a 100% review of everything that they buy, and they submit those results to the commission and to GSA. The letter is a little infuriating. It’s coming from the political folks because the non-politicals know the commission and its partners have been working on this issue for some time.”

GSA says its letter that the commission has been working on these issues since 2025. AbilityOne issued a directive to central nonprofit agencies to inventory their products lists and flag any supply chain risks in 120 days. Then on May 1, the commission told these organizations to maintain supply chain documentation and any certifications should accompany procurement list addition and prices changes going forward.

The former federal official says that acknowledgement by GSA that AbilityOne already is addressing their concerns makes it clear that the political appointees are driving this scrutiny.

“It’s a huge lift that what GSA is asking for, but they, in many ways, are doing that already. The commission has met those deadlines and continually are reviewing their product lists,” the official said. “The commission worked with GSA to develop a template for their nonprofits to fill out on their products and the country of origin to ensure they are complying with the Made in America Act.”

The former official also questioned why GSA was focused on the AbilityOne program, which accounts for about 0.6% of total federal procurement spending. The source asked whether GSA is applying the same scrutiny to its Commercial Platform Program. Under this platform, agencies can buy from nine commercial companies, including Amazon Business, Fisher Scientific, Grainger and Staples.

“AbilityOne is clear that if GSA asks them to change a product that may be coming from foreign source, they try to identify if there is a domestic source and if not, then what are their options. But remember, these are nonprofits and if they have a stock of foreign-sourced products like pens, then they use up the stock before buying domestic ones because no way to absorb costs because there is no profit,” the official said. “Another thing to keep in mind is that the commission sets price of products based on a certain ceiling, and caps the fees that distributors and wholesalers can make. Does this happen at Amazon or Grainger or Staples? The compensation of executives is also set by the non-profits’ board of directors after an independent analysis from an outside firm. So it’s not like these nonprofits are just paying people big salaries without any understanding of the market. Keep in mind some of these nonprofits are big businesses and these people are running large organizations. The nonprofits also are scrutinized more than anyone else because they have to keep 501(c)(3) status, so they have to comply with IRS rules too.”

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