Like the Trump administration Government Efficiency Bureau (DOGE) To reduce government waste, Congress' bipartisan bills aim to bring federal computer systems “from the Stone Age.”
Bipartisan Enhanced agency management and software assets (SAMOSA) law oversight passed the House in December, with R-Iowa Sen. Joni Ernset making major efforts to pass it in the upper room .
Ernst, chairman of the Senate Dozi Caucus, said the Samosa Act “takes Washington from the Stone Age to the 21st century.”
Fox News Digital is said to have the bill potentially saving taxpayers $750 million a year by integrating federal agencies' cloud computing software licenses. According to a source close to the proposal, “Additioning federal procurement, as chairman of the Senate Douge cooperative, has made her a sweeping point to reduce government and eliminate more than $2 trillion in waste. It will be an important part of the effort.”
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Sen. Joni Ernst of R-Iowa has made President Donald Trump's candidate Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence at a confirmation hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee held in Washington, DC on Thursday, January 30, 2025. I will introduce it. (Daniel Hoyer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“If the government allows meaningful competition in bidding for software, taxpayers can save up to $750 million a year,” Ernst said in a statement in Fox News Digital. “I'll hand over my bill and force federal agencies to take common sense steps when purchasing software, rather than dumping taxpayer dollars like exclusive money.”
The legislative proposal has the support of industry groups.
“The Samosa Act is a critical step to modernizing federal IT infrastructure, ensuring fair software licensing practices in procurement and saving funds for taxpayers,” according to a statement from Fox News. said Ryan Triplette, executive director of Coalition for The Coalition. digital. “There are not many areas where Congress can see bipartisan support, but ensuring that IT infrastructure is as efficient, secure and cost-effective as possible. Fair software licensing The coalition will continue to work with congressional partners to obtain the Samosa Act across the finish line and sign the law.”
The bill provides all government agencies' chief information officers within 18 months to organize a “comprehensive assessment” of software paid or deployed to the entire agency. Your review should include all current software inventory. Identify agreements regarding the use of the software and its expiration dates and list additional charges or costs, including fees or costs for using the cloud service. contract. This review provides institutions with the information they need to “integrate software qualifications for each institution,” reducing unnecessary costs and “how agents adopt cost-effective acquisition strategies” You can develop standards and procedures for “.
Elon Musk arrives at the inauguration of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kenny Holston Pool/Getty Images)
On the House side, the Samosa Act was introduced by Rep. Matt Cartwright and co-hosted by a bipartisan group of 20 members of Congress.
Ernst wrote to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in November (since then left Doge before leaving the Doge while reportedly a possible bid for the Ohio governor).
The White House calls Doge's Democrat criticism “unacceptable” and “incredibly unsettling.”
In the options, Ernst said, “We can save $750 million each year on our institution's cloud computing software licenses.”
She cited Michael Garland's research, a Experts in the software and government procurement industry who discovered two of the world's largest software companies, Microsoft and Oracle, received 25% to 30% of contracts “without meaningful competition.”
Citing one example of “vendor lock,” the study found that the government spent $112 million to buy Microsoft Office over Google Workspace to “avoid the cost of switching.” I spent it.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler will speak at a meeting with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) outside the US Department of Labor (DOL) in Washington, DC, February 5, 2025 (Kena Betancur/ViewPress)
“As software competition has increased, a 5% increase in price performance could result in a saving of up to $750 million a year,” the report said.
It also explains how the US government has spent about $2 trillion on information technology (IT) since 1994, with roughly $300 billion of that spending in off-commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software.
“On an annual basis, the government collectively spends between $10-15 billion on maintenance and support for new software and previously purchased software. Unfortunately, the majority of COTS software spending is limited to a limited number of software companies. Destined only for a set of things, Garland writes: “To date, the government has not been overwhelmingly aware of how much existing software real estate is captured by a very small number. As a result, software companies' olitas have been able to freely use fear, uncertainty and sometimes questionable business practices. Competition against existing software applications is relatively rare.”
Ernst's letter also explains how the US Government's Accountability Office (GAO) identified the 10 important federal IT legacy systems that needed modernization most in 2019. I pointed it out. Legacy systems are said to provide important support to agents, but they range from around 8 to 51 years of age, and are operating and maintaining “all $337 million a year.” It cost a lot.”
Some systems used older languages such as the popular business-oriented language (COBOL).
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“The government operates on ancient computers and software. Upgrades are required!” Musk wrote on X in November.
