Sponsors (5)
The bill increases mandatory GAO reviews and public disclosure to reduce program duplication and improve budget transparency, at the cost of added administrative expense, potential delays to the legislative process, and possible reputational/funding risks for named programs.
Congress, committee staff, and the CBO will receive GAO assessments on reported bills that flag duplicative or overlapping federal programs, helping lawmakers spot and avoid redundancy and giving CBO fuller budgetary context.
Taxpayers may pay for fewer redundant or unnecessary federal programs because GAO identification of overlap makes it harder for new duplicative offices or initiatives to be created.
Taxpayers, state and local governments, and stakeholders will have increased transparency because GAO must publish identified duplication risks on its website, enabling public scrutiny.
Congressional committees and staff may face slower bill reporting and delayed committee action because GAO reviews are required for every reported public bill, potentially delaying the legislative process.
Taxpayers and GAO staff will incur higher costs because GAO will need additional resources and staff time to perform mandatory reviews, which could divert resources from other GAO work or require more funding.
State, local, and federal programs named as potentially duplicative could suffer reputational harm or premature funding risks if GAO findings are included as supplementary CBO material before full congressional debate.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review every public bill or joint resolution reported by a congressional committee for risks that it would create a new duplicative or overlapping federal program, office, or initiative. GAO must, where practicable, identify the degree of risk, name the new feature and the bill section that would create it, cite the prior GAO duplication/overlap report that found the existing overlap, provide that information to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director and the reporting committee, and publish the findings online; CBO may attach the GAO information as a supplement to its cost estimate. Defines key terms used for the reviews and makes the new requirement effective on the earlier of two trigger dates tied to an OMB website update or the start of a new Congress occurring after one year post-enactment. The measure is procedural and advisory: it creates a required review and reporting step but does not itself authorize spending or change program law.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by Timothy Burchett · Last progress March 26, 2026