The Honorable Joni Ernst
Chair
Senate Committee on Small Business and Enterprise
428A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
March 13, 2026
Dear Chair Ernst,
On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), I am writing in response to your request for a statement for the record for your hearing, “Sunshine Week: Bringing Secret Government Spending to Light” on March 18, 2026.
Waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement continue to plague the federal government, and we appreciate your efforts to address these issues by improving accountability and transparency.
USASpending.gov tracks federal agency spending, but a December 16, 2021, Government Accountability Office (GAO) report provided recommendations on improving the portal’s interface and agency compliance with uploading their materials. A November 7, 2023, GAO report noted that 49 agencies did not report data to USASpending.gov, which should be remedied to improve transparency. Of those agencies, 25 accounted for more than $5 billion in federal spending in fiscal year (FY) 2022.
The Other Transactions (OTs) category used by agencies makes it difficult to determine precisely where taxpayer dollars are being spent. A December 19, 2024, Congressional Research Service primer revealed that the Department of Defense increased the number of OTs by 785.3 percent, from 496 to 4,391 between FY 2017 to FY 2022.
Greater exposure of hidden government spending must not continue to elude Congress’s attention. CAGW commends you for holding this hearing to shed more light on the tools available to track how taxpayer money is being spent, and your continued leadership in the effort to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.
Sincerely,
Tom Schatz
President, CAGW