A bipartisan group of
Congresspeople
is proposing legislation to enhance openness about government expenditure.
The Stop Secret Spending Act focuses on federal expenditures designated as “other transaction agreements” that aren’t listed elsewhere.
USAspending.gov
The legislation would mandate that billions of dollars worth of expenditures be disclosed on the website. Senators
Joni Ernst
(R-IA) along with Gary Peters (D-MI), and Representatives Barry Moore (R-AL) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) have introduced the legislation.
Bureaucrats have been engaged in a prolonged game of cat and mouse with taxpayer funds,” Ernst stated. “I’m putting an end to these antics and halting covert expenditures. The public will now gain visibility into how Washington utilizes their money so we can pinpoint and eliminate wasteful spending.
OTAs are listed when the expenditure is determined not to “fall under the specific definition of ‘federal award.'”
Data analyzed by Ernst and provided to the Washington Examiner reveals that federal agencies allocated more than $18.2 billion for Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) just in 2024. The largest beneficiaries included the Army with $6.3 billion, followed closely by the Air Force at $5.4 billion, then the Navy receiving $3.4 billion, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency obtaining $722 million, and finally, the Immediate Office of the Secretary of Defense securing $607 million.
The
Government Accountability Office
discovered an additional $40 billion documented as OTAs from fiscal years 2020 to 2022.
The Stop Secret Spending Act aims to modify the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, mandating this legislation to produce an annual report on unreported financial disbursements.
Peters presented the bill as ” commonsensical legislation.”
Americans have the right to understand where their tax payments, earned through hard work, are going,” he stated to Politico. “This sensible bill will enhance the clarity with which the federal government utilizes these funds, thereby reducing waste, fraud, and misuse.
Bipartisan backing for this initiative emerges as the Department of Government Efficiency faces criticism for adopting an aggressive stance against governmental inefficiency. Extensive layoffs and budget reductions have sparked widespread anger among Democrats and raised doubts within certain Republican circles. Nonetheless, the introduction of the fresh legislation underscores that reducing governmental wastefulness continues to enjoy broad agreement across party lines.
Ernst has emphasized her time in the Senate for reducing government waste, co-founding the Senate DOGE Caucus. She played a significant role in probing inefficiencies arising from federal employees working remotely.
and
celebrated
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at ending remote work for all federal employees.
ERNST AND MILLER-MEEKS UNVEIL LEGislation REQUIRING Transparency FOR Delinquent And Cost-Overrun Government Projects
Last month, Ernst along with Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) presented the Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act. This legislation mandates an annual report on federal initiatives funded by taxpayers that are either delayed by more than five years or have cost overruns of at least one billion dollars above their initial budget.
In January, Ernst initiated the
Cease Inefficient Government Advertisements
Act, which aims to stop spending on “government propaganda, taxpayer-funded trinkets, and mascots.”
