Republicans and Democrats don't typically agree on much. Not on health care, for instance, not on immigration and certainly not on taxes. One thing they do agree on, however, is their ire for government spending on meetings: In response to the GSA inspector general's recent report — in which it was revealed that the GSA in 2010 spent $823,000 in taxpayers' money on a four-day training conference in Las Vegas — both the House and Senate this week passed bi-partisan measures to limit government spending on meetings and events.
First up was the Senate, which on Tuesday approved an amendment to the 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012, its postal reform bill. Sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the amendment would cut federal conference spending by 20 percent from 2010 levels, cap agency spending on a single conference at $500,000 and limit to 50 the number of employees from a single agency traveling to an international conference. What's more, the Coburn measure would require agencies to report quarterly on conference spending, explain the costs and benefits of meeting in person versus virtually, and publicly post an itemized list of conference expenses online, along with all conference materials and presentations.
The Senate approved the postal reform bill — including the Coburn conference measure — on Wednesday in a 62-37 vote. That legislation now moves to the House, which on Wednesday passed its own bill limiting federal spending on meetings. Part of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or DATA Act, it was sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and includes the same mandates as the Senate's Coburn measure. Issa's bill passed the House by a unanimous voice vote and now heads to the Senate for approval.
If either Coburn's or Issa's bill is approved by the opposite chamber of Congress, it will head to the president for his signature.
"Congress has finally said 'the party's over' when it comes to conference spending," Coburn said. "We have seen scandal after scandal because Congress has failed to do oversight. The purpose of oversight is to prevent scandals, not respond to scandals."