New Bill Gives Congress Real-Time Access to Federal Spending—Including Individual Aid and Employee Salaries

The aptly named “Make DOGE Permanent Act” isn’t about cryptocurrency, but it is about making a major, permanent change to how Congress oversees federal money. This bill, specifically Section 2, forces the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to create a special, exclusive hyperlink on the main federal spending website within six months. This link is only for Members of Congress—Senators, Representatives, and Commissioners—and it gives them real-time updates on federal award data, overriding the public site’s normal delay.

The VIP Lane for Oversight

Think of the current public federal spending site as a library that updates its books once a week. This bill gives Congress a dedicated, high-speed fiber connection directly to the publishing house. The goal is clear: give Congress the fastest possible data to conduct oversight and track where the money is going. This shift from delayed, periodic updates to instant, real-time access dramatically changes how quickly the legislative branch can react to spending decisions and potential waste.

Where the Privacy Line Blurs

Here’s the part that hits closer to home for everyday people. The public-facing site usually keeps certain sensitive payment details private. However, for Congress using this new exclusive link, the bill changes the definition of an “entity” receiving federal funds. This means that when Congress pulls the data, it must include payments made to individual people receiving federal aid and the specific details about federal employees receiving pay (salaries). Essentially, information that is normally protected from public view—like your specific government benefit payments or the detailed salary of a federal worker—will be visible to every Member of Congress and their staff who access this special link.

The Real-World Impact on Your Data

For the millions of people who receive federal aid—whether it’s housing assistance, veteran benefits, or certain student grants—this provision means their specific payment records are now accessible to Congress. The same goes for federal employees, from the mail carrier to the policy analyst; their salary information becomes part of this real-time data dump for legislative review. While the stated purpose is transparency and oversight, this creates a significant privacy concern. It means a massive amount of highly personal financial data is being centralized and made available to 535 individuals (plus their staff) with a click. The risk isn't just in the access itself, but in the potential for that sensitive, individual-level data to be misused, leaked, or used for political targeting outside of formal oversight channels.