[Senate Report 118-36]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                   Calendar No. 82                                            

118th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session  }                                           { 118-36

======================================================================
                    IDENTIFYING AND ELIMINATING WASTEFUL 
                               PROGRAMS ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 OF THE

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              TO ACCOMPANY

                                 S. 666

           TO AMEND TITLE 31, UNITED STATES CODE, TO REQUIRE
             THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF EACH AGENCY TO
     COMPILE A LIST OF UNNECESSARY PROGRAMS, AND FOR OTHER PROGRAMS

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                  May 30, 2023.--Ordered to be printed
                  
                              __________

                                
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
                           WASHINGTON : 2023                    
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------              
                  
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
ALEX PADILLA, California             RICK SCOTT, Florida
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
            Lena C. Chang, Director of Governmental Affairs
               Emily I. Manna, Professional Staff Member
           William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
              Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
                  Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                                                   Calendar No. 82                                            

118th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session  }                                           { 118-36

======================================================================                     
 
                 IDENTIFYING AND ELIMINATING WASTEFUL 
                              PROGRAMS ACT

                                _______
                                

                  May 30, 2023.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 666]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 666) to amend title 
31, United States Code, to require the Chief Operating Officer 
of each agency to compile a list of unnecessary programs, and 
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................3
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............3
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............5

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    S. 666, the Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs 
Act, would create a process for identifying wasteful agency 
programs and program activities to reduce spending and 
streamline delivery of government services through increased 
transparency.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\On February 2, 2022, the Committee approved S. 2135, the 
Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs Act. That bill is 
substantially similar to S. 666. Accordingly, this committee report is 
in many respects similar to the committee report for S. 2135. See S. 
Rep. No. 117-216.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

              II. Background and Need for the Legislation

    The federal government continues to face a long-term fiscal 
path characterized by an imbalance between federal revenue and 
spending.\2\ In the short-term, opportunities exist for 
achieving financial savings by improving the efficiency and 
effectiveness of federal programs.\3\ S. 666 presents a pathway 
for realizing these cost saving opportunities by assisting 
Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and other 
transparency and accountability actors, in the identification 
of unnecessary, defunct, or duplicative federal programs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\Congressional Budget Office, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 
2023 to 2033 (CBO Publication No. 58848), at 28-31 (February 2023).
    \3\Government Accountability Office, 2021 Annual Report: New 
Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and 
Achieve Billions in Financial Benefits (GAO-21-455SP) (May 2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    S. 666 builds upon previous efforts to inventory federal 
programs to provide greater transparency and track costs and 
performance. The bill follows on the Government Performance and 
Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA),\4\ the 
Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act,\5\ and the Congressional Budget 
Justification Transparency Act of 2021.\6\ S. 666 is based in 
part on section 11 of GPRAMA, which established a system for 
identifying and eliminating outdated agency reporting. Under 
section 11, agencies compile a list of statutorily mandated 
duplicative or outdated reports. Agencies then send the list of 
reports under section 11 to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review, and OMB provides the list to Congress and may 
submit legislative recommendations for Congress's consideration 
that eliminate or consolidate reports identified on the 
list.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 
2010, Pub. L. No. 111-352.
    \5\William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2021, Pub. L. No. 116-283, Sec. 9601.
    \6\Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2021, 
Pub. L. No. 117-40.
    \7\Supra note 4, Sec. 11.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Similarly, S. 666 would require agency Chief Operating 
Officers to compile a list of unnecessary programs in their 
annual Congressional budget justifications. The list of 
programs should include unnecessary, defunct, or duplicative 
programs; programs that could be performed more effectively by 
a different agency; and programs that could operate more 
effectively if consolidated with other programs. Each agency 
would send the list of programs, along with legislative 
recommendations to eliminate or consolidate any of the 
programs, to certain Congressional committees, including 
authorizing and appropriations committees of the Senate and the 
House of Representatives.
    S. 666 establishes a process for identifying unnecessary, 
defunct, or duplicative federal programs. Once these programs 
have been identified, Congress can craft legislation to rescind 
statutory authorization for these programs and realize any 
accompanying cost savings.

                        III. Legislative History

    Senator Margaret Hassan (D-NH) introduced S. 666, the 
Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs Act, on March 7, 
2023, with original cosponsor Senator Mike Braun (R-IN). The 
bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs.
    The Committee considered S. 666 at a business meeting on 
March 29, 2023. At the business meeting, the bill was ordered 
reported favorably by roll call vote of 12 yeas to 0 nays, with 
Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, 
Blumenthal, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley voting in 
the affirmative, and with Senators Carper, Johnson, and 
Marshall voting yea by proxy, for the record only.

        IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported


Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill as the 
``Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs Act.''

Section 2. Identification and elimination of unnecessary agency 
        programs or program activities

    Subsection (a) requires OMB to include annual budget 
justification materials for each program in the federal program 
inventory, the OMB website that publicly lists information 
about each federal program.
    Subsection (b) amends chapter 11 of title 31 of the United 
States Code by adding Section 1127 at the end.
    Subsection (a) of Section 1127 defines the terms 
``agency,'' ``program,'' and ``program activity.''
    Subsection (b) of Section 1127 requires each agency's Chief 
Operating Officer to compile a list of programs in its annual 
budget. The list of the agency's programs should include: 
unnecessary, defunct, or duplicative programs; programs that 
could be performed more effectively by a different agency; and 
programs or activities that could operate more effectively if 
consolidated with other programs or activities. Subsection (b) 
of Section 1127 further requires OMB to publish the list of 
wasteful programs as part of the federal program inventory and 
any federal program inventory pilot programs. Lastly subsection 
(b) of Section 1127 requires OMB to submit the compiled list of 
programs to the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations, 
the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and 
Accountability.
    Subsection (c) of Section 1127 permits agencies to submit 
recommendations for statutory changes to eliminate or 
consolidate programs or program activities identified under 
subsection (b).
    Subsection (c) makes a clerical amendment for section 1127 
of title 31 to be added to the table of sections.
    Subsection (d) sets the effective date as 120 days after 
the date of enactment.

                   V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    S. 666 would require the Office of Management and Budget to 
provide guidance to federal agencies for identifying programs 
and activities for elimination or consolidation, within the 
current budget process and to compile a list of such programs 
after the President submits the budget each year.
    The federal government currently reviews different ways to 
reduce, eliminate, or manage the overlap and duplication within 
its agencies. Because of that ongoing activity, CBO expects 
that implementing the bill would not significantly affect 
federal spending over the 2023-2028 period. The budgetary 
effects of eliminating or consolidating programs will be 
estimated when the Congress considers legislation specifically 
related to the programs identified by each agency. CBO 
estimates that the administrative costs to implement the bill 
would be less than $500,000 over the same period; any spending 
would be subject to future appropriation action.
    Enacting S. 666 could affect direct spending by some 
agencies that are allowed to use fees, receipts from the sale 
of goods, and other collections to cover operating costs. CBO 
estimates that any net changes in direct spending by those 
agencies would be negligible because most of them can adjust 
amounts collected to reflect changes in operating costs.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

       VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is 
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

UNITED STATES CODE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


TITLE 31--MONEY AND FINANCE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Subtitle II--The Budget Process

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


CHAPTER 11--THE BUDGET AND FISCAL, BUDGET, AND PROGRAM INFORMATION

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec.
1101. * * *
1102. * * *
     * * * * * * *
1127. Identification of unnecessary agency programs or program 
          activities.
     * * * * * * *

SEC. 1122. TRANSPARENCY OF PROGRAMS, PRIORITY GOALS, AND RESULTS.

          (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                  (3) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                          (D) * * *
                                  (i) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                                  (v) * * *
                                  (vi) to the extent 
                                practicable and consistent with 
                                guidance issued by the Director 
                                of the Office of Management and 
                                Budget, budget justification 
                                materials described in section 
                                3(b)(2)(B) of the Federal 
                                Funding Accountability and 
                                Transparency Act of 2006 (31 
                                U.S.C. 6101 note);
                                  [(vi)] (vii) any other 
                                information that the Director 
                                of the Office of Management and 
                                Budget determines relevant 
                                relating to program activity 
                                data in priority areas most 
                                relevant to Congress or the 
                                public to increase transparency 
                                and [accountability; and] 
                                accountability, including 
                                information included in the 
                                list compiled under section 
                                1127(b)(1); and
                                  [(vii)] (viii) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 1127. IDENTIFICATION OF UNNECESSARY AGENCY PROGRAMS OR PROGRAM 
                    ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
          (1) Agency.--The term `agency' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 1108(a).
          (2) Program.--The term `program' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 1122(a)(1).
          (3) Program activity.--The term `program activity' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 1115(h).
    (b) Agency Identification of Unnecessary Programs or 
Program Activities.--Not later than the 20 days after the date 
on which the President transmits the budget of the United 
States Government under section 1105(a) each year, and based on 
guidance provided by the Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget, the Chief Operating Officer of each agency shall--
          (1) compile a list that identifies any program or 
        program activity of the agency that--
                  (A) is unnecessary, defunct, or duplicative 
                of another program or program activity of the 
                agency;
                  (B) another agency could administer more 
                effectively; or
                  (C) could operate more effectively if the 
                program or activity were consolidated with 
                other programs or activities;
          (2) publish the list compiled under paragraph (1) 
        in--
                  (A) with respect to each list compiled before 
                the date of the implementation described in 
                section 9601(b)(3) of title XCVI of the William 
                M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense 
                Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (31 
                U.S.C. 1122 note) of the program inventory 
                described in section 1122(a)(2)(B)(i) of this 
                title, the pilot program described in section 
                9601(b)(2)(B) of title XCVI of that Act; and
                  (B) with respect to each successive list, the 
                program inventory described in section 
                1122(a)(2)(B)(i); and
          (3) submit the list compiled under paragraph (1) to--
                  (A) the relevant congressional committees of 
                jurisdiction of the agency;
                  (B) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
                Senate;
                  (C) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                  (D) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
                House of Representatives; and
                  (E) the Committee on Oversight and 
                Accountability of the House of Representatives.
    (c) Recommendations.--Based on guidance issued by the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the head of an 
agency may submit to Congress recommendations for statutory 
changes to eliminate or consolidate programs or program 
activities identified under subsection (b)(1).

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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