DATA Act
Public Law 113-101 · S. 994 · 113th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Barack Obama (D) on May 9, 2014 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA)
Cosponsors (10): Sen. Rob Portman, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 or the DATA Act - (Sec. 2) States as the purposes of this Act to:
• expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 by disclosing direct federal agency expenditures and linking federal contract, loan, and grant spending information to federal programs to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track federal spending more effectively;
• establish government-wide data standards for financial data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable government-wide spending data that is displayed accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov;
• simplify reporting for entities receiving federal funds by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance costs while improving transparency;
• improve the quality of data submitted to USASpending.gov by holding federal agencies accountable for the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted; and
• apply approaches developed by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to spending across the federal government.
(Sec. 3) Amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to define "federal agency," for purposes of such Act, to mean an executive department, a government corporation, or an independent establishment.
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than three years after the enactment of this Act and monthly, when practicable, but not less than quarterly thereafter, to ensure that information on funds made available to or expended by a federal agency is posted online, in a searchable, downloadable format.
Directs the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish government-wide financial data standards for federal funds and entities receiving such funds. Requires such data standards, to the extent reasonable and practicable, to: (1) incorporate widely-accepted common data elements and a widely-accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, platform-independent, computer-readable format; (2) include government-wide universal identifiers for federal awards and entities; (3) be consistent with and implement applicable accounting principles; (4) be capable of being continually updated; (5) produce consistent and comparable data; and (6) establish a standard method of conveying the reporting period, reporting entity, unit of measure, and other associated attributes.
Requires the Secretary and the Director to issue guidance to federal agencies on such data standards and consult with public and private stakeholders in establishing such standards.
Requires the Director to review the information required to be reported by recipients of federal awards to identify: (1) common reporting elements across the federal government, (2) unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) unnecessarily burdensome reporting requirements for recipients of federal awards.
Requires the Director to establish a two-year pilot program to develop recommendations for: (1) standardized reporting elements across the federal government, (2) the elimination of unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) the reduction of compliance costs for recipients of federal awards. Requires such pilot program to include: (1) a combination of federal contracts, grants, and subawards, with an aggregate value of not less than $1 billion and not more than $2 billion; (2) a diverse group of recipients of federal awards; (3) recipients who receive awards from multiple programs across multiple agencies; and (4) data collected during a 12-month reporting cycle.
Requires the Director, not later than 90 days after the termination of the pilot program, to submit a report to the House Committees on the Budget and Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committees on the Budget and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that includes: (1) a description of the data collected under the pilot program, its usefulness, and the cost to collect the data from other recipients; and (2) recommendations.
Directs the Inspector General of each federal agency to: (1) review a statistically valid sampling of the spending data submitted under this Act by the federal agency; and (2) submit to Congress and make publicly available a report assessing the completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data sampled and the implementation and use of data standards by the federal agency.
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit a publicly available report to Congress assessing and comparing the data completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data submitted under this Act by federal agencies and the implementation and use of data standards by federal agencies.
Authorizes the Secretary to establish a data analysis center, or expand an existing service, to provide data, analytic tools, and data management techniques to support: (1) the prevention and reduction of improper payments, and (2) the improvement of efficiency and transparency in federal spending. Transfers assets of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to the Department of the Treasury upon the establishment of the data analysis center.
Declares that nothing in this Act: (1) shall require disclosure to the public of information protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or information protected under the Privacy Act of 1974 or the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) shall be construed to create a private right of action.
(Sec. 4) Requires the OMB Director to make available on the OMB website a financial management status report and government-wide five-year financial management plan.
(Sec. 5) Requires a federal agency to notify the Secretary of the Treasury of any legally enforceable non-tax debt owed to such agency that is over 120 (currently, 180) days delinquent so that the Secretary can offset such debt administratively. Requires the Secretary to notify Congress of any instance in which an agency fails to notify the Secretary of such a debt.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.
H.R. 2061Related bill
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 18 actions.
- May 9, 2014Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 113-101.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Apr 30, 2014FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Apr 28, 2014FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 994.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Issa moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- FloorFloor · Held at the desk.
- FloorFloor · Received in the House.
- Apr 10, 2014FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- FloorFloor · The committee substitute was withdrawn by Unanimous Consent.
- FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
- Mar 27, 2014CalendarCalendar · Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 337.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Carper with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 113-139.
- Nov 6, 2013CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- May 21, 2013CommitteeCommittee · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in Senate
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
2 amendments offered to the bill, with the last recorded step of each.
- Agreed to
S.Amdt. 2971SenateSen. Thomas CarperD-DE· offered Apr 10, 2014Agreed to
To allow the Secretary of Defense to request an extension to report financial and payment information data.
Apr 10, 2014: Amendment SA 2971 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
- Agreed to
S.Amdt. 2970SenateSen. Thomas CarperD-DE· offered Apr 10, 2014Agreed to
In the nature of a substitute.
Apr 10, 2014: Amendment SA 2970 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.