New Federal Bill Demands Public Tracking of Every Government Payment—But Allows Exemptions for 'Sensitive Operations'

The “Delivering On Government Efficiency in Spending Act” is essentially a massive upgrade to the government’s financial plumbing, aiming to stop improper payments and fraud before they happen. It tackles this goal with a two-pronged approach: mandatory public transparency for nearly every federal dollar spent, and a huge expansion of data sharing between agencies to verify who is getting paid.

The All-Seeing Eye: Tracking Every Dollar

Under Section 2, every federal agency—from the Department of Energy to the Library of Congress—must report detailed information about every single payment they make through the Treasury system. This isn't just a total amount; they have to report the payment’s purpose, the specific budget account it came from, and what activity it relates to. Crucially, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must then ensure these details are posted on the public Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act website within 30 days. Think of it as a detailed, public receipt for every expenditure, which is great for taxpayers who want to know exactly where their money is going.

However, there’s a big caveat: the “Sensitive Operations” exemption. If an agency head certifies that releasing payment details would harm a “sensitive operation”—defined generally as law enforcement or national security activities where disclosure could lead to death, serious injury, or reveal classified information—they can skip the public reporting requirement. While this is necessary for legitimate national security payments, the definition is broad (Vague_Authority concern) and could be used to shield routine or non-critical expenditures from public view. Even when exempted, the agency still has to report aggregated data about these payments in their budget justification materials, but the individual details remain hidden.

Data Sharing Gets a Major Upgrade

Section 3 focuses entirely on program integrity, which means making sure payments go to the right people and catching fraud. To do this, the bill grants the Treasury Secretary unprecedented access to highly sensitive personal data across multiple agencies (Power_Concentration concern). The goal is to beef up the “Do Not Pay Initiative,” which is the government’s system for flagging suspicious payments.

Specifically, the Treasury Secretary will gain access to the National Directory of New Hires (tracking where people work) and, more significantly, specific data from IRS tax returns. This tax data includes the taxpayer ID, adjusted gross income (AGI), filing status, business income/loss (Schedule C), and bank account information. The Social Security Administration must also regularly share personally identifiable information, including names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, with Treasury for payment verification. For ordinary people, this means your most sensitive financial and personal data is now being shared among more government entities to ensure you aren't improperly receiving federal funds. While this should cut down on waste, it significantly increases the risk profile for data breaches and misuse.

Verifying Your Bank Account and Adjusting Consumer Protections

To prevent payments from going to the wrong place—a common issue—agencies must now verify bank account details against existing records before sending money. This is a practical step that should mean fewer headaches for people waiting on federal payments, like tax refunds or benefits. Furthermore, the bill adjusts the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Normally, when an agency uses a consumer report to take action against you, specific procedures must be followed. This bill allows the government, when working to improve payment accuracy, to stop or change a federal payment based on a consumer report without triggering those standard consumer reporting restrictions (Protection_Removal concern). For example, if a report suggests a potential identity issue, the government could halt a benefit payment without the usual FCRA notification process, prioritizing payment accuracy over established consumer due process.