Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act

Key Points

• This bill requires almost every federal agency to perform a deep-dive audit of all the software they buy, build, or use. Within 18 months, agencies must list every digital tool they pay for, how much it costs, and whether they are actually using it.
• The goal is to stop the government from wasting money on software that is paid for but never used. It also targets hidden fees, like extra costs for using cloud services, and identifies contracts that unfairly limit how or where the government can run its programs.
• After the audit, agencies must create a plan to save money. This includes combining different software deals into one large license to get a better price and training staff to negotiate better terms with big tech companies.
• The policy aims to make government software more flexible. By identifying programs that don't work well together, the government hopes to switch to tools that share data more easily, which helps federal employees do their jobs more efficiently.
• Congress is not providing any new money for this work. Agencies are expected to use their existing budgets to perform these audits, with the expectation that the long-term savings from cutting waste will outweigh the initial cost of the review.

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