Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act

This section establishes the scope of the bill by defining what constitutes a "covered agency" (most Executive and independent regulatory agencies) and, crucially, a "covered project." A project falls under this bill if it's either more than 5 years behind its original schedule or at least $1 billion over its original cost estimate, adjusted for inflation. It also clarifies what types of endeavors count as a "project," excluding direct spending.

This provision mandates that within one year of enactment, the OMB Director must issue guidance requiring covered agencies to annually submit detailed information about each of their covered projects. This information includes project purpose, location, contract numbers, initiation year, federal share of cost, primary contractors, changes to scope, original and current completion dates and cost estimates (inflation-adjusted), explanations for delays or cost increases, and any bonuses awarded.

The Director of OMB is required to compile all the information submitted by agencies into an annual report. This report must be submitted to Congress and also posted publicly on the OMB website. While the report must be unclassified, it allows for a classified annex if necessary, ensuring that sensitive national security information can be protected while still providing public transparency where possible.