Rep. Chip Roy is taking the baton from Elon Musk and charging forward with a major transparency push that could give Congress unprecedented access to the inner workings of federal spending. In a bill unveiled Wednesday, the Texas Republican proposes granting lawmakers real-time visibility into Treasury Department payments over $25,000—including payments to federal contractors, benefit recipients, and government employees.
The legislation is designed to keep the spirit of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alive following Musk’s recent departure from his short but impactful role. Musk’s aggressive auditing and public disclosures at DOGE had already laid bare billions in waste, fraud, and programs many saw as completely misaligned with American values. Roy’s plan aims to ensure that transparency doesn’t die just because Musk left Washington.
“DOGE lifted up the hood of federal government spending and put on full display the massive programs and inefficiencies wasting American taxpayer dollars,” Roy told Fox News Digital. “Regardless of which party controls the White House, the mission of DOGE must continue.”
The bill previewed by Fox News would make real-time financial data directly accessible to members of Congress, helping lawmakers flag abuse and redundancy as it happens rather than months after the fact. It would apply to all departments and agencies and be implemented alongside efforts to streamline oversight of the nearly $6 trillion federal budget.
Roy emphasized that the legislation would give Congress “the best tools available to identify this ridiculous spending in real time and allow us to reform government spending well into the future.”
The announcement comes as fiscal hawks are rallying behind a $9.4 billion rescissions package submitted by President Trump this week. That proposal targets notorious cash sinks like NPR, PBS, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—and may only be the beginning.
“This is just the first round,” a House Republican leadership aide said. “We’re going to keep cutting and exposing every agency that’s been wasting taxpayer dollars while Americans are struggling.”
The rescissions package gives Congress 45 days to act and lowers the Senate threshold for passage to 51 votes, making it far easier to push through with Republican control. GOP leaders have already said they’re planning a vote on the package next week.
Musk’s exit from DOGE last week raised some concerns that the momentum for trimming government waste might stall, especially after he sharply criticized Republican leadership for watering down anti-spending measures in their latest budget bill. But Roy’s move signals a clear intent to keep up the pressure and institutionalize Musk’s reforms into congressional law.
Though Democrats are expected to cry foul over expanded oversight into federal programs—many of which they’ve championed for years—the political optics of resisting transparency could be costly. With the 2026 midterms looming, Roy and other conservatives are betting that voters will rally behind efforts to expose and eliminate what Musk dubbed “the sludge beneath the surface” of federal bureaucracy.
In Washington, where bureaucratic bloat often goes unchecked, Roy’s bill represents a rare step toward transparency, accountability, and immediate oversight. Whether it passes or not, it will almost certainly shift the debate over how Congress keeps tabs on federal spending—and just how much the public has a right to see.
