• Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock
Editor's Pick

Senate DOGE Republican pushes bill to bring government computer systems ‘out of the stone age’

by February 6, 2025
written by February 6, 2025

As the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) works to slash government waste, a bipartisan bill in Congress is aiming to bring the federal government’s computer systems ‘out of the Stone Age.’ 

ThebipartisanStrengthening Agency Management And Oversight Of Software Assets (SAMOSA) Act passed the House in December, and Sen. Joni Ernset, R-Iowa, is leading efforts to get it passed in the upper chamber. 

Ernst, the chair of the Senate DOGE Caucus, said the SAMOSA Act will ‘bring Washington out of the Stone Age and into the 21st century.’ 

Fox News Digital is told the bill could potentially save $750 million annually for taxpayers by consolidating federal agencies’ cloud computing software licenses. A source close to the proposal said ‘fixing federal IT procurement will be a key part of her sweeping efforts as chair of the Senate DOGE Caucus to downsize government and eliminate more than $2 trillion in waste.’ 

‘If the government allowed meaningful competition in bidding for software, taxpayers could save up to $750 million a year,’ Ernst said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘Let’s pass my bill to force federal agencies to take commonsense steps when purchasing software, instead of throwing away taxpayer dollars like monopoly money.’

The legislative proposal has the support of industry groups. 

‘The SAMOSA Act is a vital step toward modernizing the federal IT infrastructure, ensuring fair software licensing practices in its procurement and saving money for taxpayers,’ Ryan Triplette, Executive Director of the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘There aren’t many areas in Congress where we see bipartisan support, but ensuring our IT infrastructure is as efficient, secure and cost-effective as possible is one of them. The Coalition for Fair Software Licensing will continue working with partners in Congress to get the SAMOSA Act across the finish line and signed into law.’

The bill gives the Chief Information Officer of every government agency no more than 18 months to organize a ‘comprehensive assessment’ of the software paid for or deployed throughout the agency. The review should include an inventory of all the current software, identify contracts for the use of the software and their expiration dates and list additional fees or costs, including fees or costs for the use of cloud services, not included in the initial costs of the contract. The review should then give each agency the information necessary to ‘consolidate software entitlements of each agency,’ reduce unnecessary costs and ‘develop criteria and procedures for how the agency will adopt cost-effective acquisition strategies.’ 

On the House side, the SAMOSA Act was introduced by Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., and co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 20 members of Congress.  

Ernst penned a letter in November to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy (who has since exited DOGE while reportedly weighing a potential Ohio gubernatorial bid), outlining ‘a trillion dollars’ worth of ideas for trimming the fat and reducing red ink.’ 

Among the options, Ernst said ‘consolidating agencies’ cloud computing software licenses could save $750 million every year.’ 

She cited a study by Michael Garland,software and government procurement industry expert, that found Microsoft and Oracle, the world’s two largest software companies, received 25% to 30% of their contracts ‘without meaningful competition.’ 

Citing one example of ‘vendor-lock,’ the study found the government spent $112 million more to buy Microsoft Office than Google Workspace ‘in order to avoid perceived costs to switch.’

‘A five percent improvement in price performance, due to enhanced software competition, could produce savings up to $750 million annually,’ the report said. 

It also described how the U.S government spent almost $2 trillion on Information Technology (IT) since 1994, and about $300 billion of that expenditure has been on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software. 

‘On an annual basis, the government collectively spends $10 to $15 billion on new software and for the maintenance and support of previously purchased software. Unfortunately, the majority of the COTS software spend has been destined for only a limited set of software companies who have managed to create a largely vendor-locked COTS software estate,’ Garland wrote. ‘Until now, the government has had little visibility into how resoundingly its incumbent software estate has been captured by so few. As a result, an oligarchy of software companies has been free to use fear, uncertainty, and sometimes questionable business practices to make authentic competitions against incumbent software applications relatively rare.’ 

Ernst’s letter also pointed to how the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified 10 critical federal IT legacy systems – or systems that are outdated or obsolete – that were most in need of modernization in 2019. The legacy systems were said to provide ‘vital support to agencies’ missions’ but ranged from about eight to 51 years old and ‘collectively cost about $337 million annually to operate and maintain.’ 

Several of the systems used older languages, such as Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL). 

‘The government runs on ancient computers & software. Needs an upgrade!’ Musk wrote on X in November.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
Trump’s Gaza ‘takeover’ rankles America First conservatives, allies suggest negotiator-in-chief is at work
next post
Lara Trump to host weekend show on Fox News

related articles

Hunter Biden seen driving Toyota rental in South...

May 31, 2025

Trump tariff plan faces uncertain future as court...

May 31, 2025

Musk confident DOGE will save $1 trillion as...

May 30, 2025

Who will be Elon’s successor? The top names...

May 30, 2025

Elon Musk sports black eye at farewell presser...

May 30, 2025

Biden says he could ‘beat the hell out...

May 30, 2025

Donald Trump fires National Portrait Gallery director for...

May 30, 2025

‘American hero’ or ‘failure’: Elon Musk’s DOGE departure...

May 30, 2025

Unfinished Business: The budget cuts Musk couldn’t complete...

May 30, 2025

Alleged attempt to impersonate White House chief of...

May 30, 2025
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News, And Articles.


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Latest News

  • Tulsi Gabbard faces next test in confirmation battle with key Senate hurdle

    February 10, 2025
  • Trump’s team still hasn’t signed transition of power agreements, White House says

    November 22, 2024
  • Long AME: bullish uptrend channel and strong support levels indicate promising near-term upside potential

    July 23, 2024
  • Syrian rights activist and cousin of Assad tears into Europe for supporting new ‘terrorist’ regime

    March 15, 2025
  • Disney tops quarterly profit estimates but starts to lose Disney+ streaming subscribers

    February 6, 2025

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Secret Service admits leaning on ‘state and local partners’ after claim it ignored Trump team’s past requests

    July 21, 2024
  • 2

    Elon and Vivek should tackle US funding for this boondoogle organization and score a multimillion dollar win

    December 4, 2024
  • 3

    Forex Profit Calculator: Maximize Your Trading Potential

    July 10, 2024
  • 4

    Five more House Democrats call on Biden to drop out, third US senator

    July 19, 2024
  • 5

    Biden calls to ‘lower the temperature’ then bashes Trump in NAACP speech

    July 17, 2024

Categories

  • Economy (829)
  • Editor's Pick (4,735)
  • Investing (624)
  • Stock (775)

Latest Posts

  • UN watchdog warns time to ‘maneuver’ on Iran’s nuclear program is shrinking: report

    November 14, 2024
  • October Fests: A potpourri of late election-year ‘surprises’ shake up most races, history shows

    October 26, 2024
  • Uber to integrate 100,000 BYD electric vehicles in Europe and Latin America

    July 31, 2024

Recent Posts

  • President-elect Trump announces Pam Bondi as his new pick for US attorney general

    November 22, 2024
  • Influential leader of Canada’s Ontario province seeks Trump, Musk meeting: US ‘needs us like we need them’

    January 12, 2025
  • Biden says he’s been carrying out ‘most aggressive climate agenda’ in history as he designates CA monuments

    January 15, 2025

Editor’s Pick

  • ALEX BERENSON: Why I’m voting for Donald J. Trump

    November 3, 2024
  • Trump unveils picks for his future ambassadors to Japan, Austria and other countries: ‘PUT AMERICA FIRST’

    December 17, 2024
  • Solana and Cardano: Solana dropped to Friday’s support

    August 28, 2024
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Disclaimer: moneyrisetoday.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2025 moneyrisetoday.com | All Rights Reserved

Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock