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Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025
3/26/2025, 2:08 AM
Summary of Bill HR 2069
OTAs are a type of contract that federal agencies use for research and development projects, as well as for other purposes. These agreements are often used for innovative projects that may not fit within the traditional contracting process. However, there has been concern that OTAs lack the same level of transparency and accountability as traditional contracts.
Under this bill, federal agencies would be required to report all OTAs to USAspending.gov, including information on the parties involved, the purpose of the agreement, and the amount of funding allocated. This would allow the public to have greater visibility into how taxpayer dollars are being spent through these agreements. In addition to enhancing transparency, the bill also aims to improve oversight of OTAs by requiring agencies to provide regular updates on the status and outcomes of these agreements. This would help ensure that federal funds are being used effectively and efficiently. Overall, the "Other Transaction Agreement Accountability Act of 2021" seeks to promote greater accountability and transparency in federal spending by ensuring that OTAs are subject to the same reporting requirements as traditional contracts.
Congressional Summary of HR 2069
Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025
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.
