Federal Agencies Must Publicly Report on Projects $1 Billion Over Budget or 5 Years Behind Schedule

If you’ve ever managed a big project—whether it’s renovating your kitchen or launching a new product at work—you know things rarely go exactly as planned. Costs creep up, timelines slip. Now imagine that on a massive, federal scale. That’s the focus of the Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025, which isn't about funding new projects but about shining a massive spotlight on the ones that have gone completely off the rails.

This bill mandates a new level of transparency for federal projects that are either $1 billion or more over their original cost estimate or more than five years behind their original expected completion date. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director is required to issue guidance within a year, forcing federal executive and independent regulatory agencies to submit annual reports on these ‘covered projects.’ Essentially, this is a new alarm system designed to flag the biggest financial and scheduling disasters in the federal portfolio.

The Billion-Dollar Tripwire

What makes a project ‘covered’ is pretty straightforward, but the implications are huge. If the Army Corps of Engineers is building a dam that was supposed to cost $500 million and is now projected to cost $1.6 billion (a $1.1 billion overrun), it hits the threshold. If the Department of Transportation started a high-speed rail line in 2010 that was supposed to finish in 2020, but the current completion date is 2026, it’s also covered. The bill even requires these cost estimates to be adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, so agencies can’t use rising prices as an easy excuse to avoid scrutiny.

For the agencies and the contractors involved, this means the days of quietly sweeping massive overruns under the rug are over. They must provide detailed explanations for the delays and cost increases, including whether the problem was insufficient or late funding. They also have to disclose the purpose, location, and, crucially, every primary contractor, subcontractor, grant recipient, and subgrantee involved.

The Public Scorecard

The real power of this bill lies in its public-facing requirement. The OMB Director must take all this collected data and submit an annual report to Congress, but they must also post the entire report publicly on the OMB website. This takes the information out of the closed-door oversight hearings and puts it directly into the hands of taxpayers, journalists, and watchdog groups. Think of it as a public scorecard for government efficiency.

For you, the busy taxpayer, this means you’ll finally have access to clear, consolidated data explaining why your tax dollars are tied up in projects that are years late or billions over budget. For those working in construction, defense, or technology industries—especially those contracting with the government—this creates a new layer of intense public scrutiny. If your company is listed as a primary contractor on a project that’s $2 billion over budget, that information will now be accessible with a few clicks. While this increases transparency for everyone, it definitely increases the administrative burden on the agencies and the public relations risk for the contractors who land on the list.