{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=DA81E26D-AC4F-4EC8-95D3-878FAEDE7A70", "Heitkamp, Ernst Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Improve Government Efficiency and Accountability", "2017-11-30", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Legislation would Strengthen Congressional Oversight and the Public\u2019s Ability to Evaluate How Federal Agencies are Tackling Problems\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013\u00a0U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) today introduced a bipartisan bill to hold federal agencies accountable to act on recommendations that save taxpayer money and make government more efficient.\r\nThe legislation requires that all open recommendations from inspectors general (IG) at federal agencies that have remained unimplemented for more than a year be posted to a single, searchable website. This legislation would allow Congress and the public to keep better tabs on the problems that have been identified at the federal agencies where IGs conduct audits to combat waste, fraud, and abuse \u2013 and keep track of whether or not steps have been taken to resolve those problems. \r\nIGs serve as federal watchdogs within government agencies by investigating agencies and recommending how to improve operations and transparency on issues ranging from cybersecurity to federal hiring practices. For the third consecutive year, the IGs identified in their recommendations over $20 billion in potential taxpayer savings. However, there is currently no standard requirement for how IGs organize and maintain open recommendations on their websites, and the quality of publicly available information varies from agency to agency. \r\n\u201cEach year, our government invests in the important work of inspectors general. Unfortunately, it\u2019s often difficult for taxpayers to assess whether a federal agency is listening to inspector general recommendations and making good-faith efforts to correct major issues that could help the federal government work better,\u201d said Heitkamp. \u201cOur bipartisan bill would allow the public to better hold government agencies and their leadership accountable by making sure the work of inspectors general gets the full and public analysis it deserves. That way recommendations are put to good use and tax dollars are used efficiently.\u201d\r\n\u201cInspectors General play a critical role in the oversight of our federal agencies,\u201d said Ernst. \u201cI am glad to join Senator Heitkamp in this bipartisan effort to make the recommendations made by the Inspectors General more accessible and transparent so we can better combat waste and abuse in our federal agencies.\u201d\r\nToday\u2019s announcement follows the October launch of Oversight.gov\u2014a federal website that hosts thousands of IG reports. The launch responded to Heitkamp\u2019s repeated calls for greater transparency and accountability across federal agencies \u2013 including in bipartisan legislation she introduced last year that would have required IGs to post unimplemented recommendations on their websites. The Inspector General Recommendation Transparency Act is endorsed by the Project on Government Oversight. \r\nBefore the launch of this legislation, Heitkamp met with U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz to discuss ways to improve Congressional oversight of his agency\u2019s recommendations. During the meeting, Heitkamp reinforced how improving the way open recommendations are posted online could motivate federal agencies to fulfill the recommendations, and help keep Congress better informed about ways to improve operations at federal agencies. Heitkamp has been consistently working with the IG community on ways to implement key elements of her bill to help improve transparency and accountability across the federal government.\r\nAs a leader of the Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management Subcommittee within the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Heitkamp helped lead a subcommittee hearing on how federal departments and agencies implement recommendations from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the offices of inspectors general. At the hearing, Horowitz testified that for every dollar invested in IGs, there is the potential for $18 in savings for taxpayers, and Heitkamp expressed concern about the need for more transparency and visibility in agencies\u2019 efforts to resolve issues of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement as identified by IGs.\r\nIn March 2015, Heitkamp and U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) launched their #CutRedTape Initiative to gather feedback about how federal regulations are impacting Americans across the country every day, and work to improve these regulations by reducing waste, stopping backlogs, and cutting red tape.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=DA81E26D-AC4F-4EC8-95D3-878FAEDE7A70"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0379767045378685, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}