Senate, House debut GREAT Act to cut federal waste

A bipartisan pack of senators and congressmen rolled out new legislation on April 21 in an effort to reduce government waste and duplication.

The Getting Results through Enhanced Accountability and Transparency, or GREAT, Act of 2016 would make federal agencies heads accountable for reducing waste and duplication identified by the Government Accountability Office.

Related: Read the bill

The bill was sponsored by a slate of Republicans and Democrats, including Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.—the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

On the House side, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., both cosponsored the bill. The pair sits on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The bill comes a little more than a week after Comptroller General Gene Dodaro presented an annual report identifying 37 new areas, and 92 new actions where the federal government could visit to save money and clamp down on redundancies.

Those actions were on top of a litany of other recommendations that GAO had made since 2011 that have yet to be carried out.

"This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would put in place commonsense policies that will help federal agencies get better results for less money," said Carper, in a statement. "GAO provides Congress information on where federal agencies can utilize taxpayer dollars more efficiently and effectively. It is now our job in Congress to use this information and take action where needed to eliminate waste and unnecessary duplication."

The bill's sponsors said it would require agencies to find ways to coordinate resources, cut duplication and provide information to the committees on how they can help reduce overlap.

"GAO made some great suggestions, and we should take them to heart," said Russell, in a statement. "As we look to find ways to cut and reshape our federal budget we can increase efficiency by cutting duplication. The GREAT Act will do that by providing Congress with more information and pressure the Executive Branch to take action to reduce overlaps and redundancies. Our rising debt is a national security risk, and this measure is a great bipartisan plan to help decrease our yearly national debt."

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