(The Center Square) – Several bills promoting transparency, government efficiency, and financial accountability advanced Wednesday during a meeting of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The markup session, chaired by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., included measures focused on economic oversight, veterans affairs, and regulatory reforms, with a wide focus on taxpayers and taxpayer money.
“Today, the Oversight Committee put forward practical solutions aimed at enhancing services for American taxpayers, tightening stock disclosure requirements, streamlining data and overall operations within federal agencies, and boosting government transparency,” Comer said in a statement. “We’re proud to advance these bills with a favorable recommendation from the committee.”
Most notably, House Resolution 8690, the Stop Secret Spending Act, introduced by Reps. Barry Moore, R-Ala., and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., aims to create new reporting requirements for agency federal spending information, requiring information to be reported under USAspending.gov.
The agencies would be required to include other transaction agreements, which are contract mechanisms not covered by the Federal Acquisition Regulation framework.
These bills focus on government accountability and transparency. President-elect Donald Trump is creating the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Cutting costs across government agencies is their primary goal, and to eventually close down the department by July 4, 2026 – a date intentionally aligned with the nation’s 250th birthday.
House Resolution 9040, The Taxpayer Exposure Risk Reduction Act, introduced by Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., would help identify and mitigate obstacles that place unnecessary financial burdens on taxpayers “through a wide review of transferring the financial risk of certain federal programs to the private sector insurance market in a transparent manner.”
One proposal among the bills is House Resolution 10132, the Federal Agency Performance Act, sponsored by Reps. William Timmons, R-S.C., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. The act aims to provide additional transparency and accountability to improve federal agencies’ performance and program outcomes.
“I want to thank Mr. Khanna for partnering with me on this important legislation … as members of the Oversight Committee, it is our responsibility to protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse,” Timmons said. “This bill takes an important step in establishing the guardrails needed to ensure government spending is efficient and effective while rooting out wasteful practices from our federal agencies.”
Another notable bill, House Resolution 8706, the Dismantle DEI Act, introduced by Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, takes a “whole-of-government approach” to eliminating authorizations and funding for government diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The bill would direct the Office of Personnel Management to abolish all federal offices for DEI, requiring the Office of Management and Budget to revoke all respective regulations.
Other bills also advanced by the committee include:
- HR8753, To direct the U.S. Postal Service to designate single, unique ZIP codes for certain communities and other purposes.
- HR10151, the Modernizing Data Practices to Improve Government Act.
- HR10133, the Timely Stock Disclosure Act.
- HR10062, the Freedom to Petition the Government Act.
The bills passed by the committee are now headed to the House floor for full consideration.
By Shirleen Guerra | The Center Square
