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House of Representatives

Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025

2026-07-20 Issue 118 Showing 1–6 of 6

Official Congressional Record ↗

Eric Burlison

Republican

“I want this bill to pass. The government should put its spending online. People should see how the government spends their money.”

Eric Burlison

Republican

“I want this bill to pass. The government should put all its spending online. People should see how the government spends their money. Some spending is secret now. That is bad. This bill will show all the secret spending to the people.”

Official Congressional Record

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I support this bill, H.R. 2069, the Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025, which requires Federal agencies to report complete and accurate information to USAspending.gov. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, as later amended by the DATA Act of 2014, established USAspending.gov, a public database of all government spending. It is critical that government spending is transparent to the American people so that they can be assured that agencies are appropriately using their hard-earned tax dollars. Transparency is fundamental in building trust in government. For 20 years, agencies have been required to be more transparent with how they are spending taxpayer dollars, but, unfortunately, gaps have been identified in what gets reported to USAspending.gov by Federal agencies. Increasingly, Federal agencies have relied upon spending authorities known as other transaction agreements, or OTAs. OTAs are not subject to certain Federal acquisition laws and requirements and, most importantly, are not required to be reported to USAspending.gov under current law. Agencies use different methods to report the billions of dollars in spending related to OTAs, according to the Government Accountability Office. This has led to inconsistent reporting and unreliable information, resulting in a lack of full transparency over how billions of dollars are spent by Federal agencies. To be clear, the DATA Act of 2014 intended for all Federal spending to be captured on USAspending.gov. The Stop Secret Spending Act corrects this issue by requiring OTA spending to be reported to USAspending.gov. The bill also requires agencies to report annually on types of funding that previously were unreported for a variety of exemptions. Lastly, it restores the requirement for agency inspectors general to review the entirety of data submitted to USAspending.gov to ensure that it is complete and accurate. H.R. 2069 will provide more transparency to the American people. It allows taxpayers to hold agencies accountable for how they spend your money. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this very commonsense legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

View on ourcommons.ca ↗

Suhas Subramanyam

Democrat 4:50 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. The government should put all its spending online. People should see how the government spends their money. Some spending is secret now. That is bad. This bill will show all the secret spending to the people. The government spends a lot on contracts. People don't know about these contracts. We should show these contracts to the public. I want more transparency.”

Official Congressional Record

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the American people are working hard to make ends meet, and so they deserve to know how the Federal Government is spending their tax dollars. The Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025 helps. It increases transparency on how taxpayer dollars are spent by requiring Federal agencies to disclose other transaction agreements, or OTAs. These contracts have historically been excluded from public reporting, but they account for nearly $20 billion annually. This is a commonsense measure to increase transparency in Federal contracting. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

View on ourcommons.ca ↗

Barry Moore

Republican 4:50 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. The government should put all its spending online. People should see how the government spends their money. Some spending is secret now. That is bad. This bill will show all the secret spending to the people. The government spends a lot on contracts. People don't know about these contracts. We should show these contracts to the public. I want more transparency. The debt is very high. We need to be responsible with money. Transparency is good. It will stop waste and fraud. People can see what the government does with their money. That is what people want.”

Official Congressional Record

Madam Speaker, the American people work hard for every dollar they send to Washington, and they deserve to know how every one of those dollars is spent. That is the simple principle behind the Stop Secret Spending Act. Federal agencies have been able to spend billions of taxpayer dollars through what are known as other transaction agreements, or OTAs, without fully reporting those expenditures on usaspending.gov. These agreements may have legitimate uses, but the American people should not have to wonder whether Federal spending is being disclosed or not. When our national debt is approaching $40 trillion, transparency is not optional. It is a responsibility. This bill closes a loophole that has allowed significant amounts of Federal spending to remain outside the public reporting system. It does not ban OTAs. It does not create unnecessary red tape. It simply requires the agencies to report these agreements so taxpayers can see where their money is going. Every family in Alabama knows where their money is spent. Farmers know where they money is spent. Small business owners know where their money is spent. The Federal Government should be held to that same standard. Sunlight is one of the best safeguards against waste, fraud, and abuse. Transparency helps Congress do its job. It helps taxpayers hold Washington accountable, and it helps restore trust in government. That is common sense. That is accountability. That is exactly what the American people expect from their government. Madam Speaker, I urge our colleagues to support the Stop Secret Spending Act.

View on ourcommons.ca ↗

Suhas Subramanyam

Democrat 4:50 p.m.

“I am thankful for the time. I want to talk about this bill. People need help. Costs are high. We should pass the bill. Then people will know what the government spends on them.”

Eric Burlison

Republican 4:50 p.m.

“I want my colleagues to support this bill. The bill will help people understand how the government spends their tax money. The government has a limited amount of money.”

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