U.S. Rep Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) is on a mission to cut wasteful government spending and has put forward a bill that will help in that effort.
Moore and U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) introduced the Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025, which requires federal agencies to include other transaction agreements (OTAs) in the list of federal awards that must be reported on USAspending.gov.
“Federal agencies should be disclosing every taxpayer dollar they spend, especially as we close in on $35 trillion in national debt,” Moore said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the current OTA loophole allows these agencies to spend billions and leave Americans in the dark.”
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OTAs are legally binding agreements that are not standard contracts, cooperative agreements or grants that authorized government agencies may use, and thus they are not subject to certain federal acquisition laws and requirements. Analysis from the General Services Administration (GAO) has found that significant amounts of OTAs are not being reported.
“I thank my colleague, Rep. Panetta,” Moore continued, “for joining me on this bipartisan legislation to ensure that all federal agency expenditures are easily accessible to the American people on USAspending.gov.”
Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) led the Senate companion to this legislation.
“Bureaucrats have been playing hide and seek with tax dollars for far too long,” Ernst said. “It’s time to end the games and stop the secret spending. The American people will now be able to see how Washington spends their money, so we can identify and cut waste.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
