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Washington, D.C.- Today, Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) introduced the Stop Secret Spending Act of 2024, which requires federal agencies to include other transaction agreements (OTAs) in the list of federal awards that must be reported on USAspending.gov. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) led the Senate companion to this legislation.
OTAs are legally binding agreements that are not standard contracts, cooperative agreements or grants that authorized government agencies may use, and thus they are not subject to certain federal acquisition laws and requirements. Analysis from the General Services Administration (GAO) has found that significant amounts of OTAs are not being reported.
“The American public currently can’t see all of the spending of our tax dollars by our federal government as many federal agencies are not disclosing billions of dollars in expenditures,” said Rep. Panetta. “Our bipartisan legislation would ensure these transactions are accounted for on USAspending.gov as we work to increase transparency and public understanding of federal spending. This is a commonsense, straightforward bill that is essential to building public trust in our stewardship of taxpayer dollars and efforts to reduce our national debt and deficits.”
"Federal agencies should be disclosing every taxpayer dollar they spend, especially as we close in on $35 trillion in national debt. Unfortunately, the current OTA loophole allows these agencies to spend billions and leave Americans in the dark, " said Rep. Moore. "I thank my colleague, Rep. Panetta, for joining me on this bipartisan legislation to ensure that all federal agency expenditures are easily accessible to the American people on USAspending.gov."
“We all know there is wasteful spending everywhere you look in the swamp, but we can’t stop what we can’t see,” said Senator Ernst. “USAspending is taxpayers’ most valuable tool for spotting and then stopping Washington waste, and that’s why we can’t allow bureaucrats to get away with hiding how they are spending hard-earned tax dollars. I’m thankful for this bipartisan support for my bill to shine a light on what is going on in Washington, so we can end any covert cover-ups and make ‘em squeal!”
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