Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025

The 'Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025' (S.872) is currently in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, having been reported with amendments on November 7, 2025. Hearings were held by the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on March 18, 2026. This bill expands the definition of 'federal award' to include 'other transaction agreements' (OTAs), requiring their expenditures to be reported on USAspending.gov. This means that within three years of enactment, data related to OTAs must be automatically transmitted and centrally viewable on the website. This bill does not authorize or appropriate any specific funding amounts. Instead, it focuses on increasing transparency and accountability for existing federal expenditures made through OTAs. The mechanism is a mandate for federal agencies to report these previously undisclosed contractual instruments, which are exempt from many federal procurement laws and regulations. The bill also requires an annual report on unreported federal spending. Companies heavily reliant on OTAs, particularly in the defense and technology sectors, are positioned as structural losers due to the increased transparency and scrutiny. This includes major defense contractors like Lockheed Martin Corporation ($LMT), RTX Corporation ($RTX), The Boeing Company ($BA), General Dynamics Corporation ($GD), Northrop Grumman Corporation ($NOC), and Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. ($HII). Technology and services contractors such as Leidos Holdings, Inc. ($LDOS), CACI International Inc ($CACI), and DXC Technology Company ($DXC) could also be impacted if they utilize OTAs for significant portions of their federal work. The elimination of secrecy removes a competitive advantage and could lead to greater public and congressional oversight of these contracts. In the past 30 days, all listed defense and technology contractors have experienced negative price changes: $LMT (-2.61%), $RTX (-2.67%), $BA (-4.4%), $GD (-2.58%), $NOC (-5.98%), $HII (-3.21%), $LDOS (-9.22%), CACI (-6.63%), and DXC (-3.26%). However, over the past 7 days, most have seen positive changes, with $BA leading at +12.2%. This short-term rebound does not negate the longer-term implications of increased transparency on OTA-dependent businesses. The bill has a companion bill, HR2069, which is identical and has been ordered to be reported, indicating bipartisan and bicameral support, increasing its probability of passage. Legislative steps remaining include potential further committee action, a vote in the Senate, and then consideration by the House of Representatives, where its identical companion bill is also progressing. If passed by both chambers, it would then go to the President for signature.