Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025

The Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025 (S.766) was introduced by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) on February 27, 2025, and passed the Senate unanimously on December 11, 2025. It was received in the House on December 15, 2025. An identical companion bill (HR1722) has been ordered reported favorably 39-0 by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, indicating strong bipartisan momentum for enactment. The bill mandates the OMB Director to issue guidance requiring federal agencies to annually report on 'covered projects' — those more than 5 years behind schedule or at least $1 billion over original cost estimate. The report must include project descriptions, scope changes, original vs. current cost/schedule estimates, and a list of primary contractors, subcontractors, and grant recipients. This is a pure transparency/oversight bill with zero appropriated or authorized funding. It does not change contract types (cost-plus vs. fixed-price), terminate any programs, impose penalties for poor performance, or accelerate any projects. Its primary impact is creating a publicly available annual list of problem projects, which could increase congressional oversight hearings and media scrutiny but creates no direct financial liability or revenue opportunity for contractors. Defense contractors (LMT, BA, GD, RTX, NOC) are certainly the largest participants in projects that meet the cost/schedule thresholds — the F-35, KC-46, B-21, Columbia-class submarine, and GBSD Sentinel all likely qualify. However, these programs already face extensive existing reporting requirements (GAO annual reports, Selected Acquisition Reports (SARs), Nunn-McCurdy breach reviews). The incremental administrative burden of one additional annual OMB report is negligible relative to existing compliance costs. The Presidential Determination on domestic petroleum production (Apr 20, 2026) is unrelated to this bill — that action could increase federal energy infrastructure projects, but the Boondoggle Act only reports on them, it does not fund or incentivize them. The timing is coincidental, not causal. Legislative timeline: Passage in the House appears likely given both party consensus (unanimous Senate passage, 39-0 House committee vote). Enactment likely by mid-2026. First agency reports due ~1 year after enactment. No market-moving events expected during implementation.