U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) recently sponsored a bipartisan bill that would create a system to help federal agencies identify which programs are unnecessary, defunct, duplicative or could operate more efficiently if consolidated with another program.
“I appreciate being able to work across the aisle on legislation that cuts red tape and helps streamline government services,” said Rep. Rice, who unveiled the Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs Act, H.R. 6789 on Feb. 18 with original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ).
If enacted, H.R. 6789 would effectively reform government services by having federal agencies work with the Office of Management and Budget to identify and eliminate wasteful programs, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Rice’s staff.
A list of these programs would be submitted to Congress, which would then draft legislation to eliminate or consolidate the programs, the summary says.
“Making government smaller and more efficient is always the goal,” Rep. Rice said. “This is a commonsense solution to saving taxpayer money while identifying and eliminating wasteful spending in the federal government.”
H.R. 6789 is the companion bill to the bipartisan Wasteful Federal Programs Reduction Authorization Act, S. 2135, introduced in June 2021 by U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Mike Braun (R-IN).