House Passes Moore's Stop Secret Spending Act
Rep. Barry Moore's bipartisan bill would require hidden federal spending deals to be disclosed on USAspending.gov
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation sponsored by Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL-01) that would require federal agencies to publicly report billions of dollars in spending now exempt from standard transparency rules.
Moore's bipartisan Stop Secret Spending Act would require agencies to disclose Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) on USAspending.gov, the federal government's public spending database. The measure closes what supporters describe as a loophole that allows billions of taxpayer dollars to be spent outside the reporting requirements applied to most federal contracts, grants and cooperative agreements.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) served as the bill's lead Democratic cosponsor, while Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
OTAs are legally binding agreements that federal agencies may use instead of traditional procurement methods. Originally designed to give agencies, particularly the Department of Defense, greater flexibility in developing new technologies and working with private industry, many OTA awards are not currently required to be listed on USAspending.gov. Supporters of the legislation argue that this leaves significant federal spending beyond the reach of routine public oversight.
"The American people deserve to know where every taxpayer dollar is going," Moore said. "The House's passage of the Stop Secret Spending Act is an important victory for transparency and accountability, closing a loophole that has allowed billions in federal spending to escape public view. Washington doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem, and taxpayers shouldn't have to wonder where their hard-earned money is going. I'm grateful for the bipartisan support this bill received, and I look forward to working with the Senate to get it across the finish line."
The legislation amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act to classify OTAs as reportable federal spending, placing them alongside grants, loans and contracts already visible to the public through USAspending.gov. It also requires agencies to account for spending that remains exempt from public reporting and explain why those funds were withheld.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that implementing the measure would have a negligible budgetary impact while increasing the amount of spending information the Treasury Department publishes each year.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where Ernst's companion measure has already advanced with bipartisan support. In June, the Senate unanimously approved its version, increasing the likelihood that the transparency proposal could reach the president's desk if the House and Senate reconcile any differences.
