Number: 111-2
Date: January 16, 2009

On January 14, 2009, the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 40 by a vote of 423-0. The simple resolution amends the Rules of the House to require each standing committee to hold periodic hearings on specified topics such as waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in Government programs. As a simple resolution, H. Res. 40 only requires approval by the House in order to take effect.

Under the new rules, each standing committee (or one of its subcommittees) is required to:

•  Hold at least three hearings per year on the topic of waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement in Government programs under that committee's jurisdiction. Such hearings would focus on the most egregious instances of waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement as documented by agencies' Office of the Inspector General or the Comptroller General of the United States reports;

•  Hold a hearing when the committee receives disclaimers of agency financial statements from auditors of any Federal agency; and,

•  Hold at least one hearing on issues raised by “high-risk” reports issued by the Comptroller General of the United States indicating that Federal programs under the committee's jurisdiction are at high risk for waste, fraud, and mismanagement.