A group of Republican lawmakers is pushing to cement some of the core reforms enacted at the Treasury by President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who helms the Senate DOGE Caucus, and Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) are introducing legislation backed by over a dozen other lawmakers to codify requirements for the Treasury Department to ensure all payments include proper descriptions in its system.
Their new bill, titled the Delivering On Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Spending Act, hardcodes the reform into law in a bid to dramatically slash improper payments.
Last fiscal year, there were at least $162 billion in improper payments, with 84% of that being overpayments, according to the US Government Accountability Office.
“Requiring government to answer basic questions before spending tax dollars will save billions over the next decade,” Ernst said in a statement to The Post.
“Enacting safeguards to spending has been one of the Trump administration’s and DOGE’s greatest triumphs, and I am determined to codify it and make it permanent.”
Ernst is introducing the bill in the Senate with Sens. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Ted Budd (R-NC), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.)
Bean is introducing the measure in the House of Representatives.
“For too long, improper and fraudulent payments have drained resources and undermined trust in government spending,” Bean said in a statement. “The American people deserve responsible stewardship of their tax dollars, and this bill delivers exactly that.”
“This legislation takes the first critical step toward codifying DOGE efforts into law — bringing real oversight and integrity to the way taxpayer dollars are managed.”
The new bill comes amid a growing push among Republicans to codify the DOGE cuts into law. On Tuesday, the White House formally requested that Congress claw back $9.4 billion in a rescissions package targeting foreign aid, PBS, NPR and other programs.
Right now, it is unclear if the senators will be able to tuck the measure into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that’s currently making its way through the Senate, due to the upper chamber’s arcane rules.
The measure was inspired by some of the early actions DOGE took at the Treasury Department that had been championed by tech mogul Elon Musk.
Should the bill become law, the Treasury Department would be required to have a description of a payment, cross-check it with government databases, make sure it’s linked to an approved budget account and ensure payments are updated on USAspending.gov.
Overall, the measure is intended to ensure that the Treasury’s Do Not Pay (DNP) system gets accurate and up-to-date information.
Additionally, the DNP system would gain access to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) data and Social Security information.
Under the proposal, the DNP system would also obtain limited access to tax information such as filing status, taxpayer identification information (TIN), reports of TIN thefts, filing year data, bank account information and whether tax returns weren’t filed.
Lawmakers behind the bill are hoping it will help prevent “stove piping,” in which fraudsters can trick different programs while keeping the same dubious information because the feds’ databases are too siloed.
“The federal government must be held accountable for every tax dollar spent,” Lee said in a statement. “The DOGE In Spending Act will codify part of Trump’s fiscal plan by ensuring payments are properly reported and tracked.”
“With America $36 trillion in debt, we cannot afford a system with no accountability over where billions in taxpayer dollars are going,” Lummis added. “We are buried in red ink.”
“The American people sent a clear message by electing President Trump. They’re fed up with the wasteful spending and bloated bureaucracy,” Grassley said.
The Treasury Department is responsible for about 95% of federal payments. The Trump administration had fought court battles for the DOGE to get access to the sensitive Treasury payment system for those outlays.
President Trump later signed an executive order in March ordering reforms to the Treasury to combat potential fraud. The DOGE in Spending Act essentially puts the verification and consolidation reforms in Sections 4 and 5 of his executive order into law.
