March 14, 2025
Mrs. Bice (for herself and Mr. Self) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
To prohibit the award of Federal grants to applicants submitting duplicative or fraudulent applications, to require the Director of Office of Management and Budget to establish a tracking and deconfliction system for Federal grant applications, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Duplicative Grant Consolidation Act
.
Sec. 2. Prohibition on award of Federal grants to applicants submitting duplicative or fraudulent applications
(a) No award on basis of duplicative application
(1) Prohibition
(A) In general
Except as provided for under subparagraph (B), the head of an executive agency may not award a grant to an applicant determined by the head of the agency or the Inspector General of the agency to have received another grant from the head of another executive agency for the same or identical purpose.
(B) Exception
The prohibition under subparagraph (A) related to the award of grants for the same or identical purposes shall not apply to an applicant that is an institution of higher education.
(2) Determination
In the case that the head of an executive agency or the Inspector General of the agency determines that an applicant for a grant has submitted an application for another grant from another executive agency for the same or identical purpose, the heads of such agencies shall jointly determine which agency is the appropriate agency to award the grant, if such grant is to be awarded to such applicant.
(b) No award on basis of fraudulent application
The head of an executive agency may not award a grant to an applicant determined by the head of the agency or the Inspector General of the agency to have submitted a fraudulent application for such grant.
Sec. 3. Tracking and deconfliction system for Federal grant applications
(a) Establishment
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall make available to the heads of executive agencies, including the Inspectors General of such agencies, an electronic system through which the head of an executive agency may determine before awarding a grant, or through which an Inspector General of an executive agency may determine in conducting an audit or investigation, whether any applicant for such grant has received, or submitted an application to the head of another executive agency for, another grant for the same or identical purpose.
(b) Contents of system
The system shall contain at a minimum, the name of the awardee, the principal investigator, the award period, agency point of contact, and an abstract.
(c) Essentially equivalent work
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish an electronic system which contains information for all federal research awards through which the head of an executive agency may determine before awarding a grant, or through which an Inspector General of an executive agency may determine in conducting an audit or investigation, whether—
(1)
substantially the same research is proposed for funding in more than one grant application submitted to the same Federal agency;
(2)
substantially the same research is submitted to two or more different Federal agencies for review and funding consideration; or
(3)
a specific research objective and the research design for accomplishing an objective are the same or closely related in two or more proposals or awards, regardless of the funding source.
Sec. 4. Report on feasibility of leveraging artificial intelligence to identify duplicative Federal grant applications
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall submit to the appropriate Congressional committees a report on the feasibility of leveraging artificial intelligence to rapidly identify, with respect to an application for a grant submitted to the head of an executive agency—
(1)
whether an applicant for such grant has received, or submitted an application to the head of another executive agency for, another grant for the same or identical purpose; and
(2)
waste, fraud, and abuse.
Sec. 5. Definitions
In this Act:
(1) Applicable time period
The term applicable time period
means—
(A)
with respect to a covered application for a grant awarded after the date on which system is established under section 2(a), during the period—
(i)
beginning on the date on which such application is submitted; and
(ii)
ending on the date on which amounts under the grant are no longer being expended; and
(B)
with respect to a covered application for a grant awarded before the date on which the system is established under section 2(a), during the period—
(i)
beginning on that date; and
(ii)
ending on the date on which amounts under the grant are no longer being expended.
(2) Appropriate Congressional committees
The term appropriate congressional committees
means—
(A)
the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
(B)
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(3) Covered application
The term covered application
means an application for a grant submitted to the head of an executive agency—
(A)
after the date on which the system is established under section 2(a); and
(B)
before that date, if amounts under the grant are still being expended on such date.
(4) Executive agency
The term executive agency
means an agency in the executive branch of the Federal Government.
(5) Institution of higher education
The term institution of higher education
has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.1002).