Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025
HB1722, titled the "Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025," would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance directing covered federal agencies to report annually on certain taxpayer-funded projects that are significantly delayed or substantially over budget. A project would be covered if it is more than five years behind schedule or if spending exceeds the original cost estimate by at least $1 billion. The bill defines covered projects broadly to include major acquisitions, major defense acquisition programs, procurements, construction projects, remediation or cleanup efforts, and other time-limited endeavors not funded through direct spending.
Under the bill, agencies would have to submit detailed information on each covered project, including the project’s purpose, locations, contract or award numbers, initiation year, federal share of costs, contractors and grant recipients, changes in scope, original and current completion dates, original and current cost estimates adjusted for inflation, reasons for delays or cost increases, and any bonuses or incentive fees awarded. OMB would then compile the agency submissions into an annual report to Congress and post it publicly on OMB’s website.
The bill would not directly change substantive program rules, but it would add a new federal reporting and oversight requirement for executive agencies and independent regulatory agencies. It would require OMB to create guidance within one year of enactment and would establish a recurring annual disclosure process for major troubled projects, increasing transparency around cost overruns, schedule delays, scope changes, and contractor compensation. The affected parties would include federal agencies, contractors, subcontractors, grant recipients, and subgrantees involved in large federal projects, especially in defense, construction, procurement, and cleanup activities.
The available legislative history suggests strong bipartisan or at least broad committee support for the bill’s oversight goals. The bill was ordered reported by a unanimous 39-0 vote, indicating little visible opposition at the committee stage. The title and structure of the measure reflect a focus on accountability, waste reduction, and public transparency, themes that are generally politically popular.
No committee transcript is available, so specific objections were not recorded in the provided materials. Potential areas of contention inherent in the bill include whether the reporting thresholds are too broad or too narrow, whether the compliance burden on agencies and contractors is justified, and whether the bill could capture projects whose delays or overruns are attributable to inflation, appropriations shortfalls, or other external factors rather than mismanagement. The bill itself anticipates some of these issues by requiring explanations for delays and cost increases, including the effect of insufficient or delayed appropriations.