Ayotte Renews Call for Cutting Waste, Duplication Across Federal Government
Press Release
At a Senate Budget Committee hearing today focused on wasteful government spending, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte renewed her call for Congress and the Administration to save taxpayer dollars by cutting wasteful and duplicative federal programs. Ayotte highlighted bipartisan legislation she recently re-introduced with Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) - the Duplication Elimination Act - that would help save billions of taxpayer dollars by making it easier for Congress to eliminate wasteful spending and overlapping programs across federal government agencies.
Today's hearing featured testimony from the head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which issues an annual report identifying duplicative, overlapping, or wasteful government programs, and provides recommendations to reduce waste and inefficiency. Yet Congress and President too often fail to act on these recommendations.
"With our nation over $18 trillion in debt, we shouldn't continue wasting hard-earned taxpayer dollars on duplicative and ineffective federal programs," said Ayotte. "GAO does important work to identify areas where the federal government could save tax dollars - but unfortunately, these reports just sit on the shelf. The bipartisan bill I'm cosponsoring would force Congress and the president to finally act on GAO's commonsense recommendations and help save billions of dollars."
The Duplication Elimination Act would require the President to submit to Congress a joint resolution implementing the GAO's recommendations. The legislation would also require the President to provide Congress with a report that explains whether any GAO recommendations are excluded and the reason for their omission. Congress would then vote on the joint resolution within ten days. The bill also includes a requirement that any savings achieved from implementing the GAO's recommendations be used solely for deficit reduction.
The GAO's 2014 Annual Report "identified 11 new areas of fragmentation, overlap, and duplication in federal programs and activities. GAO also identified 15 new opportunities for cost savings and revenue enhancement."
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