Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act
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Would require every federal agency and Intelligence Community element to complete a comprehensive inventory of software it owns, uses, or pays for within 18 months of enactment, and then develop a formal plan to consolidate licenses, cut unnecessary costs, and improve interoperability.
The bill would also direct the Office of Management and Budget to submit government-wide procurement recommendations to Congress and require a Government Accountability Office review, pushing federal software management — a largely opaque and fragmented practice — toward systematic oversight.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would require the Chief Information Officer of each federal agency, working with the agency's financial, acquisition, data, and legal officials, to complete a comprehensive assessment of all software paid for by or deployed at the agency within 18 months of enactment. That assessment must document the current software inventory, all contracts and arrangements used to acquire or build software, additional fees not included in base contracts (such as cloud usage charges), interoperability of software assets, and any license restrictions on how software may be deployed or accessed. Assessments would be submitted to the agency head, then to OMB, the General Services Administration, GAO, and the relevant congressional committees. Intelligence Community elements would conduct separate assessments under security protocols and report to the intelligence committees.
Each agency would then have one year after submitting its assessment to develop a software modernization plan covering consolidation of entitlements, cost-effective acquisition strategies including enterprise licensing, and restrictions on sub-agency units acquiring software without central approval. The bill would also direct OMB to issue government-wide procurement recommendations within two years, and require GAO to report on agency software management trends and compliance within three years. No additional appropriations are authorized.
Key provisions
- 1Would require each agency's Chief Information Officer, working with financial, acquisition, data, and legal officials, to complete a comprehensive software assessment within 18 months of enactment covering inventory, contracts, costs, interoperability, and license restrictions.
- 2Would require agencies to submit the completed comprehensive assessment to OMB, GSA, GAO, and the relevant Senate and House oversight committees within 30 days of the agency head receiving it.
- 3Would require Intelligence Community elements to conduct separate software assessments under appropriate security protections and report in summary form to the intelligence committees.
- 4Would require each agency to develop a software modernization plan — covering license consolidation, cost-effective acquisition strategies, and central approval requirements for sub-agency software purchases — within one year of submitting its assessment.
- 5Would direct OMB, in coordination with GSA, to submit recommendations to Congress within two years on improving software procurement to increase interoperability, consolidate licenses, reduce costs, and modernize management.
- 6Would require GAO to report to Congress within three years on government-wide software asset management trends, inter-agency comparisons, OMB process implementation, and agency compliance.
- 7Would prohibit any additional appropriations from being authorized to carry out the Act, requiring agencies to use existing resources.
Who would be affected
Chief Information Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Acquisition Officers, Chief Data Officers, and General Counsels at every federal civilian agency subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act, as well as the heads of each Intelligence Community element. Software vendors and contractors providing services to agencies would be subject to the new assessment and conflict-of-interest requirements. OMB and the General Services Administration would carry new coordination and reporting duties.
Why it matters
Federal agencies collectively spend billions on software licenses, often without knowing how many licenses they hold, which are actually in use, or what they cost over the full contract lifecycle. If enacted, this bill would force that accounting to happen on a fixed timeline, potentially identifying significant duplicative spending and unused licenses across government — while also giving Congress and GAO a structured basis for ongoing oversight.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Deadline for agencies to complete their comprehensive software assessment
- Deadline for agency head to submit assessment to OMB, GSA, GAO, and Congress
- Deadline for each agency to submit its software modernization plan
- Deadline for OMB to submit government-wide procurement recommendations to Congress
- Deadline for GAO to submit its report on agency software asset management practices
How implementation would work
Agency Chief Information Officers would lead assessments in consultation with financial, acquisition, data, and legal officials; agencies may hire contractors (without conflicts of interest) to assist. Completed assessments flow from the CIO to the agency head, then to OMB, GSA, GAO, and congressional committees within 30 days. OMB and GSA would share best practices to standardize assessments across agencies. Within a year of submitting the assessment, each agency must develop a modernization plan and submit it to the same oversight bodies. OMB, coordinating with GSA and multiple cross-agency councils, would then synthesize agency plans into government-wide procurement recommendations. GAO would audit compliance and trends at the three-year mark.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Official CRS summary
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This bill requires federal agencies and Intelligence Community (IC) elements to assess their software inventory and develop software management plans.
The bill requires each agency and each IC element to complete a comprehensive assessment of the software paid for by, in use at, or deployed throughout the agency or element. The assessment must include information such as (1) the current inventory of software; (2) contracts and other arrangements used to acquire, build, deploy, or use the software; (3) costs and fees not included in the initial contract or agreement; and (4) the interoperability of the software and restrictions on its use.
Each agency and IC element must use their assessment to develop a plan to consolidate software entitlements, develop procedures for cost-effective acquisition strategies, and restrict subordinate entities from using any software entitlement without approval. (A software entitlement is software that has been purchased, leased, or licensed by or billed to an agency and that is subject to use limitations.) Such plans must be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Congress.
Within two years of enactment, OMB must submit recommendations to Congress regarding government software procurement policies and practices to
• increase the interoperability of software licenses;
• consolidate licenses when appropriate;
• reduce costs;
• improve performance; and
• modernize the management and oversight of agency software.
The GAO must report on certain related topics, including governmentwide trends in agency software asset management practices and comparisons of such practices among agencies.
Legislative subjects
Accounting and auditing; Budget process; Computers and information technology; Congressional oversight; Government Operations and Politics; Government information and archives; Government studies and investigations; Licensing and registrations; Public contracts and procurement