[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8466 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8466
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 9, 2026
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To require certain agencies to develop plans for internal control in
the event of an emergency or crisis, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Taxpayer Resources Used in
Emergencies Accountability Act'' or the ``TRUE Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. OMB GUIDANCE.
(a) Plans for Emergency Spending.--Subchapter IV of chapter 33 of
title 31, United States Code is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
``Sec. 3359. Requirement for financial and administrative controls for
emergency spending
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Covered agency.--The term `covered agency' means an
agency described in section 901(b).
``(2) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
``(3) Internal control.--The term `internal control' means
a process that is--
``(A) affected by the management and other
personnel of an entity; and
``(B) designed to provide reasonable assurance with
respect to the achievement of objectives relating to--
``(i) effectiveness and efficiency of
operations;
``(ii) reliability of financial reporting;
and
``(iii) compliance with applicable law.
``(b) Guidance.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this section, the Director shall issue, and
every 3 years thereafter review and if necessary update,
guidance to covered agencies for the development of plans for
internal control that are ready or adaptable for immediate use
in a future disaster, pandemic, economic relief, or other such
emergency supplemental appropriations legislative measure.
``(2) Contents.--The guidance issued under paragraph (1)
shall--
``(A) incorporate relevant governmentwide documents
and best practices for preventing improper payments and
mitigating fraud risks in Federal programs, including
the documents of the Government Accountability Office
entitled `A Framework for Managing Improper Payments in
Emergency Assistance Programs' and `A Framework for
Managing Fraud Risks in Federal Programs' (or any
successor documents); and
``(B) require a plan for internal control of each
covered agency that shall include--
``(i) the identification of a senior
official of the covered agency to be
responsible and accountable for the
implementation of the plan; and
``(ii) policies and procedures to timely--
``(I) in accordance with paragraph
(3), assess the risks of improper
payments and fraud relating to the
implementation of any supplemental
appropriation, or other increase in
budget authority, that may be made
available to the covered agency for a
purpose relating to implementing a
disaster, pandemic, economic relief, or
other such emergency supplemental
appropriations legislative measure;
``(II) develop and implement
mitigation strategies to reduce the
risks described in subclause (I),
including any change to internal
controls, to ensure that, to the
greatest extent possible, appropriate
controls are in place prior to the
expenditure of funds; and
``(III) adopt real-time, data
driven payment monitoring techniques to
identify and reduce improper and
fraudulent payments, such as anomaly
detection, volume plausibility checks,
and network analysis.
``(3) Assessment of risk.--The assessment of risk required
by paragraph (2)(B)(ii)(I) shall include a substantive
evaluation of the risk of financial loss to the Federal
Government caused by improper payments and fraud that shall
include with respect to the relevant agency program or
activity--
``(A) an assessment of the likelihood and impact of
inherent risks affecting the agency program or
activity;
``(B) an identification of the risk tolerance; and
``(C) an assessment of the suitability of existing
controls and prioritization of residual risks.
``(c) Plan Submission.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this section, the head of each covered agency
shall submit to the Director the plan required by subsection
(b)(2)(B).
``(2) Revisions.--Not later than 3 years after the date on
which the head of a covered agency submits a plan under
paragraph (1), and not less frequently than once every 3 years
thereafter, the head of each covered agency shall--
``(A) review and, if necessary, revise the plan of
the covered agency; and
``(B) submit to the Director any revised plan of
the covered agency.
``(3) Submission to congress.--Not later than 15 months
after the date of the enactment of this section, and not less
frequently than annually thereafter, the Director shall
assemble and submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives
the plans submitted by covered agencies under paragraph (1) and
a summary of the plans to help agencies prepare to implement
such plans, including any action planned to harmonize the
agency programs and activities and any legislative
recommendations for a future disaster, pandemic, economic
relief, or other emergency supplemental appropriation.
``(d) After-action Review.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
initial obligation of funds under any emergency supplemental
appropriations legislative measure for a disaster, pandemic,
economic relief, or other emergency, the head of each covered
agency that obligates such funds shall submit, in consultation
with the Inspector General of the covered agency, to the
Director an after-action review of the implementation of the
plan required by subsection (b)(2)(B) relevant to such
emergency supplemental appropriations legislative measure.
``(2) Contents.--Each after-action review required by
paragraph (1) shall include the following:
``(A) An assessment of the effectiveness of the
internal controls implemented pursuant to the relevant
plan in preventing and detecting improper payments and
fraud, including the effectiveness of any real-time,
data driven payment monitoring techniques used to
identify and reduce improper payments and fraud.
``(B) A description of any significant control
failures or gaps and any fraud risks identified during
such implementation.
``(C) A summary of the number and amount of
improper payments made per agency program or activity.
``(D) An explanation of any plan to recover any
funds lost as a result of any such improper payment.
``(E) Any recommendations for improving internal
controls for future emergency supplemental
appropriations legislative measures.
``(3) Incorporation.--The Director shall incorporate the
findings of each after-action review required by paragraph (1)
into each submission required under subsection (c)(3),
including by identifying common challenges, effective
practices, and opportunities to improve internal controls
across covered agencies.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for
chapter 33 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 3358 the following:
``3359. Requirement for financial and administrative controls for
emergency spending.''.
(c) No Additional Funds.--No additional funds are authorized to be
appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act.
Passed the House of Representatives June 8, 2026.
Attest:
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,
Clerk.