Markup Wrap Up: Committee Advances Legislation to Enhance Government Transparency, Ease Financial Burden on U.S. Taxpayers, and Modernize Federal Data Processes

WASHINGTON—The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a markup and passed a series of bills to make the federal government more efficient, effective, transparent, and accountable to the American people.

“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. We’re proud to advance these bills with a favorable recommendation from the Committee,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

The following bills were reported favorably by the House Oversight Committee:

H.R. 10133, the Timely Stock Disclosure Act, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.): This bill amends stock trading disclosure requirements for the President, Vice-President, Members of Congress, and senior government officials.

“The idea is that the faster the public can view the disclosures, the sooner authorities may intervene to address potentially illegal insider trading. I want to thank my colleague Mr. Burchett from Tennessee for introducing this legislation,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

“Our constituents elected us to write laws directly impacting the American people, yet certain members consistently outperform even the best hedge funds, raising questions about the intent behind the bills we pass…if federal employees want to continue to participate in the markets the regulate, there needs to be some transparency,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.).

H.R. 10132, the Federal Agency Performance Act, Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.): This legislation builds upon the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 to provide additional transparency and accountability mechanisms that improve performance and program outcomes of federal agencies

“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. 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,” said Rep. Timmons (R-S.C.).

H.R. 10155, the Financial Management Risk Reduction Act, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.): This bill improves single audit requirements—which current law requires for recipients of federal financial assistance awards in excess of $300,000 annually—and enhances oversight of federal funding while requiring a government-wide analysis of single audit quality.

“The Office of Management and Budget has not designated any entity to conduct a government wide single audit quality check since 2007,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). “Why is this important? Trillions of dollars of COVID-19 related financial assistance was distributed, in many cases, to first-time award recipients who are not federal entities…H.R. 10155 will require the development of analytical tools to use data to identify fraud risks across the government.”

H.R. 10062, the Freedom to Petition the Government Act, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.): This bill amends D.C. Code to ensure meetings held in the District of Columbia at a federal office building between a nonprofit organization headquartered outside of the District and officials of the federal government are not considered as doing business in the District of Columbia.

“H.R. 10062 fixes this problem by giving non-profit organizations the freedom to petition their government without threat of reprisal from a jurisdiction they would otherwise not be subject to. This fix is a win for free speech and the various organizations that advocate in front of federal officials. I thank Representative Biggs for introducing this important legislation,” said Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas).

“This law opens non-profits up to unnecessary, frivolous, and partisan investigations from the D.C. Attorney General and that creates additionally liabilities and a clear chilling effect on non-profits that want to engage with the federal government…the Freedom to Petition the Government Act amends the D.C. code to stop this practice,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.).

H.R. 8690, the Stop Secret Spending Act, Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.): This legislation creates new reporting requirements for agency federal spending information to be reported under USAspending.gov to include other transaction agreements, which are contract mechanisms not covered by the Federal Acquisition Regulation framework.

“This transparency is critical because it ensures the American people that agencies are using their hard-earned money appropriately. Unfortunately, over the years we have found gaps in USASpending.gov. Agencies more and more have been utilizing authorities for contracting mechanisms known as ‘other transaction agreements’ (OTAs) which are not subject to certain federal transaction agreement laws…it is unknown if these agencies are reporting consistently or if the information is complete. That means we do not have full transparency over how billions of dollars are spent by federal agencies,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). “This bill corrects that issue by requiring OTA spending be reported to USASpending.gov under Data Act.”

H.R. 9040, the Taxpayer Exposure Risk Reduction Act, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.): This bill requires a government-wide review of transferring the financial risk of certain federal programs to the private sector insurance market in a transparent manner.

“Mr. Donalds and Mr. Krishnamoorthi’s Taxpayer Exposure Risk Reduction would direct federal agencies to assess the budgetary and cost-saving potential of transferring risk to the private sector. Agencies would then publicly report the findings of these assessments,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). “H.R. 9040 represents a creative, straightforward effort to improve federal budgeting and efficiency.”

“The taxpayer Exposure Reduction Act represents a thoughtful step forward in identifying and mitigating obstacles that place undue financial burden on taxpayers. This legislation aims to enhance efficiency and stability of federal credit guarantee and insurance programs while transferring risk to the private sector where feasible, ensuring that taxpayers ultimately benefit,” said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).

H.R. 10151, the Modernizing Data Practices to Improve Government Act, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.): This bill extends the Chief Data Officer Council and updates the functions of the Council to support agencies in leveraging emerging technologies and artificial intelligence oversight.

“Data is the backbone of modern technologies, like artificial intelligence, which are being used to improve federal government processes, save taxpayer dollars, and increase the accountability of federal agencies. Federal agencies should be encouraged to use these emerging technologies when appropriate and with the necessary safeguards to benefit everyday Americans. However, these tools are only as good as the data that informs them, which is why the federal government needs a coordinated effort towards data management and governance,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). “This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the federal governments’ leading coordination body on this increasingly valuable resource.”

H.R. 8706, the Dismantle DEI Act, Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas): This bill takes a whole-of-government approach to eliminating authorizations and funding for government diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and directs the Office of Personnel Management to abolish all Federal DEI offices and requires the Office of Management and Budget to rescind all DEI regulations.

“DEI initiatives destroy morale, decrease recruitment, and potentially violate federal law. These initiatives spread divisive and exclusive ideologies in our federal government workplaces and taxpayers are left footing the bill. For these reasons, I support the Dismantle DEI Act,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

“This bill simply eliminates offices that are not providing value to the American people, the American taxpayer. It is probably an initiative of a hundred or more that needs to happen for us to get back to some sort of fiscal restraint which is maybe our number one national security threat,” said Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas).

H.R. 8753, To direct the United States Postal Service to designate single, unique ZIP Codes for certain communities, and for other purposes, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.): This bill establishes new ZIP Codes for certain communities.  

“There are currently over 41,000 ZIP Codes in the United States. While ZIP Codes are usually aligned with local boundaries, this is sometimes not the case…this bill will create new ZIP Codes across the nation,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

“More than 30 communities throughout America are being negatively impacted by not having their own unique ZIP Code. These municipalities deserve consistent mail service, their fair share of tax revenue, and the other economic benefits associated with having their own ZIP Code. My bill will solve a host of real-world problems for these communities and towns by providing them with a definite representative and accurate ZIP Code,” said Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).