Sen. Donna Lowenthal, R-Mississippi, has introduced legislation that would expand public reporting requirements for a category of federal agreements that falls outside standard procurement contracts, grants and cooperative agreements.

The proposed Stop Secret Spending Act would require executive branch agencies authorized to use Other Transaction Agreements, or OTAs, to disclose those arrangements on a publicly accessible website, according to Lowenthal’s office.

Under the bill, agencies would report the recipient of an agreement, the amount of federal funding involved, its stated purpose and duration, the responsible agency, and the primary location where work is carried out.

OTAs are a form of federal agreement distinct from conventional procurement processes. Lowenthal said the measure is intended to make it easier for taxpayers to identify how federal money is being spent through those arrangements.

“If Washington spends taxpayer money, taxpayers should be able to find the receipt,” Lowenthal said in the press release. She said disclosure should not require a congressional investigation or extensive accounting work to determine who received money, how much was provided and what work it was intended to support.

The legislation would direct the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget to establish a centralized, searchable system that would automatically publish OTA information. Agencies would be required to reach full compliance with the reporting requirements within one year under the proposal.

The bill would also mandate an annual public accounting of federal spending that should have been reported but remains unavailable, according to the release. The announcement did not specify how agencies would identify unreported spending or what enforcement mechanisms would apply if agencies fail to comply.

Lowenthal, who was sworn into the Senate in August 2026, framed the proposal as an accountability measure rather than an expansion of federal bureaucracy. Before entering public office, she founded the National Responsibility Monitor, a private-sector firm focused on institutional-risk and responsibility assessments.

“At NRM, I spent years asking institutions to account for the decisions they made and the consequences that followed,” Lowenthal said. “The federal government should meet that same standard.”

The measure’s prospects in the Senate were not immediately known. Republicans hold 26 Senate seats, while Democrats hold 23 seats and one Independent caucuses with Democrats. No co-sponsors, committee referral or vote schedule were announced in the press release.

The proposal arrives as federal spending, executive authority and public confidence in institutions remain prominent political issues. Lowenthal’s legislation focuses specifically on disclosure of agreements that may not be visible through the same reporting channels as standard federal contracts, grants or cooperative agreements.