At the Old Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House, President Obama is talking about how to cut government waste. And, as the Associated Press reports, the president is announcing that he's ordered budget director Peter Orszag to work with Cabinet and agency officials to draft new contracting rules.

AP adds that:

Those new rules, officials said, would make it more difficult for contractors to bilk taxpayers and make some half-trillion dollars in federal contracts each year more accessible to independent contractors.

We'll update this post with news as Obama speaks. Click your refresh button to make sure you're seeing our latest additions.

10:30 a.m. ET: The program just ended.

10:29 a.m. ET: The president promises a government that is "more efficient, more accountable and more responsible."

10:28 a.m. ET: Obama endorses the "bipartisan procurement reform" efforts proposed by Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Carl Levin for defense-related contracts. Both senators are at the event. McCain, of course, was Obama's Republican opponent in la