Budget & Taxes (Government Transparency)

HR 1963, the Agency Accountability and Cost Transparency Act of 2025, requires federal agencies to assess costs before issuing major rules. Specifically, agencies must estimate the public cost of a major rule, identify and repeal existing rules to offset that cost, and state in the Federal Register whether the new rule is "budget neutral" (costs equal to savings from repealed rules). This applies to rules with significant economic impact, such as those costing $100 million or more annually or affecting prices, competition, or industry. The bill directly affects how federal agencies develop and publish rules, aiming to ensure new regulations do not increase net costs to the public.

HR 1387, the COST Act, requires federal agencies and recipients of federal funds (including states, local governments, and research grantees) to publicly disclose the percentage and dollar amount of federal funding versus non-federal funding for any program, project, or activity. This disclosure must appear in all public communications describing the initiative (except short social media posts), detailing both the federal share and the non-federal share of costs. Recipients must also certify compliance in progress reports, and the Office of Management and Budget must annually review a sample of communications for adherence and publish findings. The bill establishes a public system for anonymously reporting non-compliant communications, with reports requiring specific details about the program and the noncompliant material.

Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025 This bill expands a requirement for federal agencies to report expenditures on the USAspending.gov website to include other transaction agreement expenditures. (Other transaction agreements, or OTAs, are contractual instruments other than standard procurement contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements; they are exempt from many federal procurement laws and regulations). Under current law, federal agencies must report expenditures on federal awards to USAspending.gov with the term federal award defined as federal grants, loans, cooperative agreements, contracts, and certain other types of expenditures. This bill expands the definition of federal award to include expenditures under OTAs, and therefore such expenditures must be included on the USAspending.gov website. The Department of the Treasury must ensure that data relating to OTAs are automatically transmitted to the website and a centralized view of this data is available on the website. Treasury must also annually post on the USAspending.gov website a report that includes (1) the total amount of federal spending on federal awards for which data has not been posted on the website, and (2) the reason why such spending data was not posted. For 10 years after enactment, the Office of Inspector General of specified federal agencies must periodically submit to Congress and make publicly available a report assessing the agency's spending data and use of data standards.

This bill requires federal agencies to report the budgetary costs of executive actions (like rules, orders, or memos) to Congress within 10 days of implementation. It directly affects all departments, agencies, and commissions that issue such actions by mandating they submit documentation on implementation and cost estimates. Agencies must report if an action is projected to cost $50 billion or more over ten years, with a table of these major actions included in annual budget reports. The law aims to improve transparency around the fiscal impact of executive decisions.

Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025 This bill expands a requirement for federal agencies to report expenditures on the USAspending.gov website to include other transaction agreement expenditures. (Other transaction agreements, or OTAs, are contractual instruments other than standard procurement contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements; they are exempt from many federal procurement laws and regulations). Under current law, federal agencies must report expenditures on federal awards to USAspending.gov with the term federal award defined as federal grants, loans, cooperative agreements, contracts, and certain other types of expenditures. This bill expands the definition of federal award to include expenditures under OTAs, and therefore such expenditures must be included on the USAspending.gov website.  The Department of the Treasury must ensure that data relating to OTAs are automatically transmitted to the website and a centralized view of this data is available on the website. Treasury must also annually post on the USAspending.gov website a report that includes (1) the total amount of federal spending on federal awards for which data has not been posted on the website, and (2) the reason why such spending data was not posted. For 10 years after enactment, the Office of Inspector General of specified federal agencies must periodically submit to Congress and make publicly available a report assessing the agency's spending data and use of data standards.

HR 737, the *Extraordinary Measures Transparency Act*, requires the U.S. Treasury Secretary to provide detailed reports to Congress when the federal debt approaches the statutory limit. Specifically, it mandates a 30-day report before hitting the limit (describing planned actions, costs, and funding duration), daily updates during the use of "extraordinary measures" (like suspending certain investments or selling securities), and a final summary after such measures end. These reports must detail the specific financial actions taken, their costs, and administrative expenses. The bill directly affects Congress by increasing transparency around the Treasury’s temporary financial strategies to avoid breaching the debt ceiling, without changing debt limit rules or funding.

HR 1771, the Improper Payments Transparency Act, requires federal agencies to include detailed explanations of improper payments in the President's annual budget. It directly affects executive agencies that already report improper payments under existing law (specifically under Chapter 33, Subchapter IV of the U.S. Code). The bill mandates agencies provide a narrative explaining *why* improper payment amounts and rates changed (or didn't change) for specific programs over the past three years, plus details on incomplete corrective actions and future steps to address these issues. This aims to increase transparency about government payment errors by making specific, factual data publicly available in the budget submission.