HR 428: Bonuses for Cost-Cutters and Fraud Preventers Act of 2026

HR 428 in plain English: This bill expands a federal employee awards program to cover identifications of wasteful operational expenses, in addition to existing fraud, waste, and mismanagement reporting. Agencies would be required to propose any expenses flagged as wasteful for rescission. The bill also doubles the maximum cash award available under the program, from $10,000 to $20,000.

Stated purpose

This bill expands the existing federal employee awards program to reward workers who identify wasteful government spending or prevent improper payments, and doubles the maximum cash award available under that program.

Key points

• Expands the federal employee awards program to include identification of wasteful operational expenses
• Requires agencies to propose any employee-identified wasteful expenses for rescission
• Doubles the maximum cash award for qualifying identifications from $10,000 to $20,000

Arguments supporters make

• Rewarding employees who find waste creates a direct financial incentive for insiders — who know agency operations best — to surface problems that might otherwise go unnoticed.
• Doubling the maximum award signals that the government is serious about cutting waste, potentially encouraging more employees to come forward with meaningful cost-saving ideas.
• Requiring agencies to formally propose wasteful spending for rescission and report results to Congress adds accountability and transparency to how agencies handle identified inefficiencies.

Arguments opponents make

• Employees seeking bonuses could flag spending as 'wasteful' that is actually necessary, creating pressure on agencies to cut programs or services that serve important public purposes.
• The program relies on agency heads and Chief Financial Officers — who may have institutional interests in protecting their own budgets — to determine what counts as wasteful, limiting independent oversight.
• Cash awards paid to employees for identifying savings could offset or reduce the actual savings achieved, and there is no guarantee the program produces net financial benefit to taxpayers.

Tradeoffs

Incentivizing employees with larger cash awards may uncover genuine waste and fraud, but could also encourage over-reporting or create internal conflicts if employees and agency leadership disagree about what spending is truly necessary versus wasteful.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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