Stop Secret Spending Act Targets $300B 'Hidden' Federal Agreements, Mandates Public Disclosure Within 3 Years

The “Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025” is basically the government’s attempt to find the receipts for one of the largest, least-transparent pots of federal money: Other Transaction Agreements, or OTAs. Think of OTAs as the government’s alternative to standard contracts—often used for fast-moving research and development, especially in defense and tech. The problem? They historically haven't had to follow the same public reporting rules as regular contracts, meaning billions in spending have been effectively hidden from public view. This bill seeks to change that by forcing all OTA data onto the public website, USAspending.gov, within three years (Sec. 2).

The Search for the Missing Receipts

For the average taxpayer, this is a big deal because it means more accountability for how federal dollars are spent on cutting-edge (and expensive) projects. The bill amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act to explicitly include OTAs, treating them just like grants or traditional contracts for reporting purposes. The Treasury Secretary now has the job of making sure all that data is automatically sent to USAspending.gov and appears in a single, easy-to-read spot (Sec. 2). If you’re a policy nerd or a watchdog group, this centralized data means you can finally track where those R&D dollars are really going.

Why Transparency Isn't Just for Show

If the Treasury Department can’t get the OTA data integrated within the three-year deadline, the bill has a backup plan. In the first year of delay, agencies that use OTAs—like the Department of Defense—must immediately publish a detailed list of every single OTA they issued in the previous fiscal year (Sec. 2). This puts the heat on agencies to comply and gives the public a clear look at spending even if the technical integration is slow. Furthermore, the bill mandates an annual public report detailing the total dollar amount of federal spending that isn't posted online and the specific reasons why, such as national security exemptions or being from the legislative branch. This annual report is critical; it forces the government to admit exactly how much money is still operating in the dark (Sec. 2).

The Trade-Off: Efficiency vs. Oversight

While the goal is transparency, the bill introduces a couple of practical challenges and potential loopholes. First, it creates new administrative burdens for federal agencies that rely on OTAs, requiring them to overhaul their data collection and reporting systems. Second, Section 3 gives the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of OMB the power to determine exactly which federal agencies and components must post their spending information online. While this could be used to streamline reporting, it also introduces a potential point of vulnerability: if the Secretary and Director choose to exclude certain sensitive or politically charged components from the reporting list, it could undermine the bill's universal transparency goal. The bill also tightens up quality control, requiring agency heads to certify that the data they post is complete and accurate, meaning less room for sloppy data entry (Sec. 3).

Finally, the bill calls in the big guns: the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Within one year, the GAO must review the main federal purchasing rule (clause 52.204.10 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation) to make sure it fully incorporates the requirements of this transparency law. This ensures that the push for openness isn't just a website update, but a fundamental change to how the government buys everything (Sec. 4). In short, this bill is a major step toward making sure that when the government spends your money, there’s a clear, public record of where it went.