Following reports that the Trump administration will merge the Federal Acquisition Service with its Technology Transformation Service, FAS Commissioner Tom Sharpe and Deputy Commissioner Kevin Youel Page will reportedly step down.
Federal New Radio first reported the staff shake-up on June 12, saying it had obtained emails from Sharpe and Youel Page to FAS staff saying that their last day would be June 24.
"It has been an honor and the capstone of my career to be your commissioner these last four years. You and your next commissioner have my best wishes for the continued success of FAS," Sharpe said in the email, per the website.
GSA announced that it was folding its new technology acquisition stand-up into FAS on June 7, converting the commissioner's career position into a political appointee job.
TTS was the established in May 2016, in the waning days of the Obama administration, as a new business line to manage the innovation and technology arms of the General Services Administration — including 18F and the Presidential Innovation Fellows.
The agency tapped former Pixar executive and Oscar-winner Rob Cook as TTS commissioner on Oct. 27. Cook will be FAS deputy commissioner and director of technology transformation services.
GSA named Alan Thomas — a former program analyst in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics at the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of the Army management analyst — as the new FAS commissioner, with him slated to come on board "in the coming week."
Youel Page, who has been with GSA since 2011, had been slated to stay on, but will depart the service in less than two weeks. Sharpe has been FAS commissioner since 2013 and reportedly told employees in his letter that he would retire.
GSA said that the merger would allow it to better support the Trump administration and its Office of American Innovation.
