Congressman Michael Cloud (TX-27) has introduced a change to House Rules that would insert transparency into congressional commissions. This House Resolution amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each commission established by Congress to report their expenditures in line-item form.

“From the 101st Congress to the 116th, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) identified 161 advisory commissions established by Congress to carry out a variety of purposes. Those purposes range from tackling complex policy to politically sensitive issues. In most cases, taxpayer funding is used for the operation of these commissions, but one major issue exists: Americans largely do not know what they are spending their taxpayer dollars on. It is not public knowledge what the commissions are spending money on.

“Funding for past congressional commissions has varied widely, ranging from a couple hundred thousand dollars to several millions of dollars.

“Given the importance of some of these commissions, it is in the best interest of the American people that expenditures from these commissions be made publicly available. That is why I introduced a commonsense change to House Rules that would require any congressional commission created by Congress to disclose all their expenses in line-item form.”

The House Resolution has been co-sponsored by Congressman Perry (R-PA), Congressman Babin (R-TX), and Congressman Budd (R-NC). Citizens Against Government Waste have endorsed the Rules change.

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