Sneak Preview: GAO Seeks USASpending.gov Reporting Determination
(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently urged Congress to amend the Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act (Pub. L. 113-101) to make the Department of the Treasury responsible for reviewing and determining which federal agencies should be required to report financial information to USASpending.gov.
USAspending.gov, the official source of federal spending information, includes information about federal awards such as grants, contracts and loans. The DATA Act requires federal executive agencies, as defined in 5 U.S.C. §105, to report monthly to USAspending.gov. In addition, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Pub. L. 116-136) requires agencies to report federal funds spent to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and related activities that exceed $150,000.
Using federal fiscal year (FY) 2022 consolidated financial statements, GAO determined that there were 152 federal entities that could be deemed federal “agencies” for reporting purposes. Agencies that are not executive agencies are allowed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to make their own legal determinations as to whether they are subject to applicable reporting requirements. Of these 152 agencies, GAO found that 49 did not report financial information to USASpending.gov, and 25 of the 49 were in the executive branch.
According to the GAO report, which was the latest in a multi-year series of reports GAO has issued on the DATA Act and USASpending.gov, neither OMB nor Treasury explained to GAO why the executive branch agencies did not report to USASpending.gov. GAO further noted that neither Treasury nor OMB has clear responsibilities for determining which agencies are subject to DATA Act reporting requirements.
OMB staff told GAO that they assist agencies, when requested, in determining whether to report financial data, but added that agencies are ultimately responsible for deciding whether to report. Treasury officials told GAO they monitor agency submissions, but they contended that the DATA Act does not provide them with the authority to assess and determine which agencies the law requires to report to USASpending.gov.
“Until Congress assigns Treasury, in coordination with OMB, the responsibilities to periodically assess and determine which agencies must report data to USAspending.gov and oversee the completeness of their reporting, the website’s data may lack some required spending information,” GAO explained. “As a result, USAspending.gov will not provide policymakers and the public with transparency over all funds federal agencies spend, as required, including for disasters and emergencies.”
(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
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