Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Mike Braun (R-IN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced legislation on Wednesday to give Congress the authority to help streamline federal agencies’ operations and reduce waste.
The Republican senators introduced the Agency Accountability Act, which creates a review process to routinely evaluate the efficiency of federal agencies, justify their current structure, and offer recommendations for change through new legislation. The legislation would allow the commission to recommend to abolish or reorganize any federal agency.
Scott, a former governor of Florida, said that one of the easiest ways to reduce federal spending is to find waste at the agency level. He said in a statement on Wednesday:
This year’s federal budget deficit will be the largest in the history of our nation. Congress has to get serious about how we are spending taxpayer dollars. An easy way to do that is to routinely examine efficiencies at our federal agencies. I did it on the state level as Governor of Florida, and it saved Florida taxpayers millions of dollars.
The Agency Accountability Act would:
- Have the speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader appoint a 13-member bipartisan commission, with a single member appointed by the president, to regularly review agency operations.
- Require each federal agency, including advisory committees, to be reviewed by the commission at least once every six years.
- Requires the oversight commission to:
- Review and evaluate the efficiency and public need for each agency using specific criteria.
- Recommend whether each agency should be abolished or reorganized.
- Report to Congress on introduced legislation that would establish a new agency or a new program, or reorganize a current agency or program.
- Grants legislation proposed by the commission expedited consideration in Congress.
Crapo said:
Congress must exercise its oversight responsibilities to prevent waste, fraud and mismanagement of federal programs. Moreover, as stewards of federal spending, we must account for every dollar and ensure it helps Americans. The Agency Accountability Act will accomplish both of these important tasks.
Braun said:
I come from the business world where budget discipline isn’t just something you talk about, it’s necessary to survive. Our budget system is broken from top to bottom, and we desperately need an efficiency review program for federal agencies to give taxpayers the basic level of accountability on how their money is being spent.
Tillis said:
It is imperative that the federal government take steps to streamline its operations as our national debt grows to unprecedented levels. The Agency Accountability Act does just that and provides an opportunity to examine and possibly restructure federal agencies so American taxpayers receive the highest possible service.
“The Agency Accountability Act will help eliminate the waste and redundancies that we see throughout the federal government, and is a common-sense way to help make Washington work,” Scott concluded in his statement.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.