Joco Today

U.S. Senators Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Rick Scott (R-Florida) have introduced legislation aimed at improving the monitoring of federal expenditures. The bill, titled the Locating Every Disbursement in Government Expenditure Records (LEDGER) Act, seeks to mandate the U.S. Department of Treasury to trace all Treasury payments. This legislative move comes after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reported discovering $4.7 trillion in government payments that lacked identifiable traceability codes.

Senator Marshall underlined the urgency of addressing government financial mismanagement, stating, “Our national debt has ballooned to over $36 trillion. Just last year, we spent more than $1 trillion on interest payments, and both figures continue to grow because of unbelievable waste, fraud, and abuse in our government.” He emphasized the need for accountability following DOGE's findings, which he described as “disgraceful.”

Echoing these sentiments, Senator Scott criticized the recent growth in federal debt and expenditure, attributing it to what he terms as past governmental dysfunction. According to Senator Scott, “Over the past few years, we’ve seen a massive expansion of government, spending trillions of tax dollars with reckless abandon and nearly zero accountability.” He advocates for the LEDGER Act, suggesting it will instill a needed discipline in federal spending practices by ensuring that payments are tracked effectively.

Senator Scott further compared government spending oversight to common household budgeting, drawing attention to the necessity of routine financial reviews, a practice he claimed to have promoted as Governor of Florida. Describing the LEDGER Act, Scott remarked, “Like many Americans, I was outraged by DOGE’s findings that the U.S. Treasury made $4.7 trillion in payments that were completely unmarked, unlabeled and therefore, untraceable and unaccountable to the American people.”

The proposed legislation aims to enhance transparency and accountability in federal financial activities by ensuring all payments made using taxpayers' money are identifiable. The full text detailing the LEDGER Act and its proposals is publicly available.