# What the Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs Act Does

This bill requires every federal agency to create and publish a list of programs that might be wasteful, unnecessary, or duplicative. Specifically, each agency's Chief Operating Officer (the top administrative official) would have to identify any programs that are defunct, wasteful, or could be run better—either by consolidating them with other programs or having a different agency manage them instead. These lists would need to be compiled within 20 days after the President submits the annual budget to Congress each year.

Once an agency identifies these potentially wasteful programs, it has to make the list public and send it to Congress, including the relevant congressional committees that oversee that agency, the budget committees, and the government oversight committees. The idea is to create transparency so that lawmakers and the public can see which federal programs agencies themselves think might not be working well or might be redundant. The bill also allows agency heads to recommend to Congress specific changes needed to actually eliminate or merge these programs, though the bill doesn't require Congress to act on those recommendations.

The practical effect is that this bill creates a formal process for agencies to admit when they're running programs that might not be necessary or effective. It's essentially a tool for identifying government waste and duplication, with the assumption that once Congress sees these lists, they might be motivated to cut spending or consolidate overlapping services. However, the bill itself doesn't actually eliminate any programs—it just requires the identification and reporting. Congress would still need to pass separate legislation to actually shut down or merge any of these programs.

Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs Act

Rice, Tom

Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs Act This bill requires each federal agency to compile a list of unnecessary programs. Specifically, each agency must compile a list of such programs, based on guidance provided by the Office of Management and Budget, that <ul> <li>are unnecessary, defunct, or duplicative federal programs;</li> <li>another agency could administer more effectively; or</li> <li>could operate more effectively if the program or activity were consolidated with other programs or activities.</li> </ul> Additionally, the President must include the list of identified programs or program activities in the annual budget submitted to Congress. An agency may submit to Congress recommendations for statutory changes to eliminate or consolidate programs or program activities identified in the list.