Federal software audit could save billions—and reshape vendor relationships
H.R. 2417 — Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act · Filed by Gerald Connolly (D-VA) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 27, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill requires federal agencies to conduct a detailed inventory of all software they own, lease, or license—including hidden costs and unused licenses—and then develop a plan to consolidate purchases, eliminate waste, and reduce vendor lock-in. Agencies must report findings to Congress and OMB. The primary beneficiary is the federal government (and taxpayers), which may recover millions in wasted software spending; secondary beneficiaries are agencies gaining better procurement tools and transparency.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandatory software asset audit and modernization planning requirement for federal agencies. It is fundamentally a government management and procurement transparency measure, not a regulatory carve-out or subsidy.
What the text implies
- Agencies may face pressure to migrate away from proprietary software toward open-source or enterprise licenses, potentially reducing revenue for vendors with restrictive licensing models and increasing demand for open-source support services.
- The requirement to identify and eliminate 'unnecessary' software and unused licenses may accelerate consolidation toward fewer, larger vendors offering enterprise-wide solutions, paradoxically reducing competition in some segments.
- Mandatory disclosure of software restrictions and vendor lock-in provisions to Congress and OMB may create political pressure on vendors to loosen terms, indirectly shifting negotiating power toward government buyers.
- The 18-month assessment timeline and subsequent 1-year planning cycle may create a temporary surge in demand for IT consulting and software asset management (SAM) tools to help agencies comply.
- Intelligence community exemption from public reporting may create a two-tier system where classified agencies avoid transparency requirements, potentially masking waste in the most expensive IT portfolios.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens benefit through reduced government waste, lower tax burden, and improved federal IT efficiency. The bill creates transparency into software spending and mandates cost-reduction strategies, with no direct cost to the public and potential savings returned to the Treasury.
Who stands to gain
- IT consulting firms (Deloitte, Accenture, IBM Global Services)
- Software asset management (SAM) tool vendors
- Open-source support and services providers
- Enterprise software vendors with flexible licensing models
- Government IT contractors specializing in modernization
Named in the bill
General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Government Accountability Office (GAO), Chief Information Officers Council, Chief Acquisition Officers Council, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Making Electronic Government Accountable By Yielding Tangible Efficiencies Act of 2016
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Mar 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
5 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $770,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 10 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.
Gerald Connolly, the sponsor, reported $160,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Tenable Inc — $330,000 on 2 filings
- Business Software Alliance — $320,000 on 1 filing
- Tenable, Inc. — $60,000 on 1 filing
- Bsa the Software Alliance (formerly Bsa Business Software Alliance Inc) — $30,000 on 1 filing
- Tenable — $30,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 10, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Federal software audit could save billions—and reshape vendor relationships” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr2417 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.