Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025
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The bill would require federal agencies to report spending under "other transaction agreements" — flexible contracts often exempt from standard procurement rules — on the public USAspending.gov website, closing a gap that currently keeps that spending largely invisible.
It would also require Treasury to publish an annual accounting of federal award spending that goes unreported and why, and would require inspector general reviews of agencies' spending-data practices for a decade, aiming to make more federal spending publicly traceable.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to expand the definition of "federal award" to include other transaction agreements (OTAs) — flexible contracting instruments that are largely exempt from standard federal procurement laws. As a result, spending under OTAs would have to be reported on USAspending.gov like other federal awards. The Treasury Department would have to ensure OTA data is automatically transmitted to the website and displayed in a centralized view within three years, and would have to publish an annual report identifying federal award spending not yet posted to the site and explaining why. The bill would also require inspectors general at specified agencies to periodically report to Congress on their agency's spending-data quality for ten years, direct Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget to set data-quality and display standards, and require the Government Accountability Office to recommend updates to a related federal acquisition regulation. It does not create new spending programs or change what activities agencies may fund.
Key provisions
- 1Would expand the definition of "federal award" under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act to include other transaction agreements, requiring their reporting on USAspending.gov
- 2Would require Treasury to ensure other transaction agreement data is automatically transmitted to USAspending.gov and displayed in a centralized view within three years of enactment
- 3Would require Treasury to annually post a report listing total unreported federal award spending and the reasons it was not posted
- 4Would require Treasury to publish an interim compilation of other transaction agreements and, if needed, a plan to Congress if full compliance is delayed
- 5Would require inspectors general at specified agencies to report to Congress and the public on their agency's spending data and use of data standards periodically for ten years
- 6Would require Treasury and OMB to set data quality and display standards and determine which agencies must post spending data
- 7Would require the Government Accountability Office to recommend updates to a federal acquisition regulation clause to incorporate the Act's requirements
Who would be affected
Federal agencies that use other transaction agreements, along with the Department of the Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget, and agency inspectors general, who would face new reporting, data-transmission, and oversight duties. Members of the public, researchers, and journalists who use USAspending.gov to track federal spending would also gain access to previously unreported data.
Why it matters
Other transaction agreements are increasingly used for research, technology, and defense-related work precisely because they avoid many procurement rules, which can also mean less public visibility into how the money is spent. Requiring this spending on USAspending.gov, plus annual accounting of gaps and inspector general oversight, would make it harder for federal spending to go untracked.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Sec. 2(a))
Expands the definition of federal award to include other transaction agreements, requiring their spending to be reported on USAspending.gov
Amends Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Sec. 2(b))
Adds a new subsection requiring automatic transmission and centralized display of other transaction agreement data on USAspending.gov
Amends Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Sec. 2(c))
Adds a requirement for an annual public report on unposted federal award spending and the reasons for nondisclosure
Amends Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Sec. 3(a))
Changes inspector general reporting requirements, extending deadlines and reporting frequency for ten years
Amends Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Sec. 3(b))
Adds data quality, display standards, and an agency reporting determination process for which agencies must post spending data
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Treasury's deadline to enable automatic transmission and centralized display of OTA data on USAspending.gov
- Treasury's first annual report on unreported federal award spending
- Deadline for interim compilation of other transaction agreements if Treasury has not yet complied with OTA data requirements
- Deadline for Treasury's plan to Congress if full OTA data compliance is not yet achieved
- First inspector general report on agency spending data and use of data standards
- Inspector general reporting requirement continues
- GAO recommendations on updates to Federal Acquisition Regulation clause 52.204-10
- Amendments requiring agencies on Treasury's published reporting list to disclose data
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 2069 would increase federal administrative costs by less than $500,000 over the 2026–2031 period, with a negligible net effect on direct spending and no effect on revenues.
CBO estimates that H.R. 2069, the Stop Secret Spending Act, would increase federal administrative costs by less than $500,000 over the 2026–2031 period, because the government already collects data for USAspending.gov and expanding what is reported would add only modest costs; any such spending would require appropriated funds. The bill could also affect direct spending (mandatory outlays) for agencies that fund operations through fees or other collections, but CBO expects those net changes to be negligible since most affected agencies can adjust the amounts they collect to offset cost changes. The bill would have no effect on federal revenues and would not increase on-budget deficits in any of the four 10-year periods beginning in 2037. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
Treasury, working with the Office of Management and Budget, would have to build the technical pipeline to automatically pull other transaction agreement data into USAspending.gov within three years, publishing interim compilations or a compliance plan if it falls behind. Treasury and OMB would also determine which agencies must report, publish that list, and set data-quality and display standards, with authority to verify agency-submitted data. Inspectors general at specified agencies would submit periodic public reports to Congress on their agency's spending-data practices for ten years, and GAO would separately recommend regulatory updates to align acquisition rules with the new reporting requirements.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 40 - 0.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
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.
Legislative subjects
Budget deficits and national debt; Congressional oversight; Government Operations and Politics; Government information and archives; Internet, web applications, social media