Senators Call For Less Waste In Federal IT Investments

Members of Congress are pointing to duplicative investments in federal information technology as an area where the government can cut wasteful spending.

"Federal IT programs have been plagued with cost overruns, program failures, and duplication. Taxpayers should not have to pay for federal IT projects twice," said Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Ranking Member Susan Collins (R- Maine). She pointed to a Government Accountability Office report released on Feb 17 that described $1.2 billion in duplicative spending on IT systems at the departments of Energy and Defense. That amount was found in the watchdog's review of only 11 percent of all federal IT investments. Sen Collins and Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Scott Brown (R-MA) have introduced a bill to increase transparency and accountability in the federal IT projects.