PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Norman, Ralph [R-SC-5] · R–SC
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Mar 30, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-14 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Cost Openness and Spending Transparency Act of 2025 would require federal agencies and people or organizations carrying out federally funded work to disclose federal funding amounts and funding shares in documents describing that work. Communications of 280 characters or fewer would be exempt. It would also require compliance certifications, annual reviews with public findings, and a way for the public to report missing disclosures anonymously.
This Act may be cited as the Cost Openness and Spending Transparency Act of 2025 or the COST Act.
An agency and an individual or entity (including a State or local government and a recipient of a Federal research grant) carrying out a program, project, or activity that is, in whole or in part, carried out using Federal funds shall clearly state in any statement, press release, request for proposals, bid solicitation, or other document describing the program, project, or activity, other than a communication containing not more than 280 characters—
include a certification indicating whether the individual or entity complied with the disclosure requirements.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall annually— (1) review a random sampling of public communications issued by agencies and recipients of Federal funds for compliance with the disclosure requirements under subsection (b); and (2) make publicly available the findings of the review under paragraph (1).
make available to the public a mechanism to anonymously report communications that do not comply with the disclosure requirements under subsection (b)
The disclosure requirement would cover work funded partly or entirely with federal money. Covered parties would include federal executive and independent regulatory agencies, individual people, organizations, state and local governments, and federal research grant recipients.
the term agency means— (1) an Executive agency, as defined in section 105 of title 5; and (2) an independent regulatory agency, as defined in section 3502 of title 44.
An agency and an individual or entity (including a State or local government and a recipient of a Federal research grant) carrying out a program, project, or activity that is, in whole or in part, carried out using Federal funds
Covered documents would have to clearly state the percentage of total costs financed with federal funds, the federal dollar amount made available, and both the percentage and dollar amount financed by nongovernmental sources. Nongovernmental funding is the category specified by the bill; the text does not substitute all nonfederal funding.
shall clearly state
(1) the percentage of the total costs of the program, project, or activity which will be financed with Federal funds; (2) the dollar amount of the Federal funds made available for the program, project, or activity; and (3) the percentage of the total costs of, and dollar amount for, the program, project, or activity that will be financed by nongovernmental sources.
The disclosures would apply to statements, press releases, requests for proposals, bid solicitations, and other documents describing the federally funded work. A communication containing 280 characters or fewer would be exempt.
in any statement, press release, request for proposals, bid solicitation, or other document describing the program, project, or activity, other than a communication containing not more than 280 characters
People and entities carrying out federally funded work would have to include a certification in their performance progress reporting stating whether they complied with the disclosure requirements.
An individual or entity carrying out a program, project, or activity that is, in whole or in part, carried out using Federal funds shall, as part of the performance progress reporting regarding the program, project, or activity, include a certification indicating whether the individual or entity complied with the disclosure requirements.
Each year, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget would have to check a random sample of public communications from agencies and federal funding recipients for compliance and make the findings public.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall annually— (1) review a random sampling of public communications issued by agencies and recipients of Federal funds for compliance with the disclosure requirements under subsection (b); and (2) make publicly available the findings of the review under paragraph (1).
Within one year after enactment of the new statutory section, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget would have to provide a public mechanism for anonymous reports of communications that fail to meet the disclosure requirements. Reports would have to include the communication itself or its location if publicly available, plus information identifying the federally funded work.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall make available to the public a mechanism to anonymously report communications that do not comply with the disclosure requirements under subsection (b), which shall require that such a report include— (1) the noncompliant communication or, if publicly available, the location of the noncompliant communication; and (2) identifying information regarding the program, project, or activity that is, in whole or in part, carried out using Federal funds.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated March 30, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on February 14, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-03-30T22:57:53Z. 2025-02-14: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 2025-02-14: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-14. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark status cannot be fully assessed without accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential treatment or special beneficiary carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Mar 30, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI