Bonuses for Cost-Cutters and Fraud Preventers Act of 2026
Key claim: The bill expands the federal awards program so employees can receive bonuses for identifying wasteful operational expenses, requires agencies to propose those expenses for rescission, and doubles the maximum cash award.
Abstract
(HR428 · 119th Congress) Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2025 This bill expands the awards program for cost-saving identifications by federal employees of fraud, waste, or mismanagement to include identifications of certain operational expenses that are wasteful (i.e., that are identified as wasteful by an employee and that an agency determines are not required for the purposes for which the amounts were made available). An agency must propose any identified wasteful expenses for rescission. The bill also doubles the maximum cash award that may be made under the program. Latest action (2026-06-09): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Why this matters
For federal workers, the bill enlarges the set of disclosures that can earn a cash bonus — beyond fraud to include identifying wasteful operational spending — and raises the ceiling on those payouts, changing the financial upside of internal cost-cutting reports. For agencies, it adds a new procedural obligation to propose flagged expenses for rescission, tying the awards program more directly to budget execution. The mechanism itself is not new, but the scope and payout size shift the incentive structure inside the federal workforce.