The Government Accountability Office published a damning report a few years ago that one-third of all federal spending isn’t reported on USASpending.gov.
Last week, a new law was enacted that will begin to cure the missing daylight.
It’s one of two new reforms that made September a huge win for taxpayers who care about spending transparency.
The Problem: Secret Spending
Among the spending that goes unreported to taxpayers: a special type of contract called an “Other Transaction Agreement.” Because it has some specific features that differentiate it from the standard procurement and contract process across government, these are not technically contracts as legally defined.
OTAs offer more flexibility for risky or critical projects; for example, the Pentagon heavily relied on these for Covid vaccine delivery.
While they have their place, they quickly spread to more than half a dozen agencies and counting, becoming just another way to avoid reporting and accountability.
