H.R. 5457

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5457 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5457

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

December 16, 2025

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

AN ACT

To improve the visibility, accountability, and oversight of agency 
software asset management practices, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Agency Management and 
Oversight of Software Assets Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
Administrator of General Services.
(2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that 
term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code, except 
that such term does not include an element of the intelligence 
community.
(3) Cloud computing.--The term ``cloud computing'' has the 
meaning given the term in Special Publication 800-145 of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology, or any 
successor document.
(4) Cloud service provider.--The term ``cloud service 
provider'' has the meaning given the term in section 3607(b) of 
title 44, United States Code.
(5) Comprehensive assessment.--The term ``comprehensive 
assessment'' means a comprehensive assessment conducted 
pursuant to section 3(a).
(6) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget.
(7) Intelligence community.--The term ``intelligence 
community'' has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003).
(8) Plan.--The term ``plan'' means the plan developed by a 
Chief Information Officer, or equivalent official, pursuant to 
section 4(a).
(9) Software entitlement.--The term ``software 
entitlement'' means any software that--
(A) has been purchased, leased, or licensed by or 
billed to an agency under any contract or other 
business arrangement; and
(B) is subject to use limitations.
(10) Software inventory.--The term ``software inventory'' 
means the software inventory of an agency required pursuant 
to--
(A) section 2(b)(2)(A) of the Making Electronic 
Government Accountable By Yielding Tangible 
Efficiencies Act of 2016 (40 U.S.C. 11302 note; Public 
Law 114-210); or
(B) subsequent guidance issued by the Director 
pursuant to that Act.

SEC. 3. SOFTWARE INVENTORY UPDATE AND EXPANSION.

(a) In General.--As soon as practicable, and not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief Information 
Officer of each agency, in consultation with the Chief Financial 
Officer, the Chief Acquisition Officer, the Chief Data Officer, and 
General Counsel of the agency, or the equivalent officials of the 
agency, shall complete a comprehensive assessment of the software paid 
for by, in use at, or deployed throughout the agency, which shall 
include--
(1) the current software inventory of the agency, including 
software entitlements, contracts and other agreements or 
arrangements of the agency, and a list of the largest software 
entitlements of the agency separated by provider and category 
of software;
(2) a comprehensive, detailed accounting of--
(A) any software used by or deployed within the 
agency, including software developed or built by the 
agency, or by another agency for use by the agency, 
including shared services, as of the date of the 
comprehensive assessment, including, to the extent 
identifiable, the contracts and other agreements or 
arrangements used by the agency to acquire, build, 
deploy, or use such software;
(B) information and data on software entitlements, 
which shall include information on any additional fees 
or costs, including fees or costs for the use of cloud 
services, that are not included in the initial costs of 
the contract, agreement, or arrangement--
(i) for which the agency pays;
(ii) that are not deployed or in use by the 
agency; and
(iii) that are billed to the agency under 
any contract or business arrangement that 
creates duplication, or are otherwise 
determined to be unnecessary by the Chief 
Information Officer of the agency, or the 
equivalent official, in the deployment or use 
by the agency; and
(C) the extent--
(i) to which any software paid for, in use, 
or deployed throughout the agency is 
interoperable; and
(ii) of the efforts of the agency to 
improve interoperability of software assets 
throughout the agency enterprise;
(3) a categorization of software entitlements of the agency 
by cost, volume, and type of software;
(4) a list of any provisions in the software entitlements 
of the agency that may restrict how the software can be 
deployed, accessed, or used, including any such restrictions on 
desktop or server hardware, through a cloud service provider, 
or on data ownership or access; and
(5) an analysis addressing--
(A) the accuracy and completeness of the 
comprehensive assessment;
(B) agency management of and compliance with all 
contracts or other agreements or arrangements that 
include or reference software entitlements or software 
management within the agency;
(C) the extent to which the agency accurately 
captures the total cost of software entitlements and 
related costs, including the total cost of upgrades 
over the life of a contract, cloud usage costs, and any 
other cost associated with the maintenance or servicing 
of contracts; and
(D) compliance with software license management 
policies of the agency.
(b) Contract Support.--
(1) Authority.--The head of an agency may enter into 1 or 
more contracts to support the requirements of subsection (a).
(2) No conflict of interest.--Contracts under paragraph (1) 
shall not include contractors with organizational conflicts of 
interest, within the meaning given that term under subpart 9.5 
of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(3) Operational independence.--Over the course of a 
comprehensive assessment, contractors hired pursuant to 
paragraph (1) shall maintain operational independence from the 
integration, management, and operations of the software 
inventory and software entitlements of the agency.
(c) Submission.--On the date on which the Chief Information 
Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Acquisition Officer, the Chief 
Data Officer, and General Counsel of an agency, or the equivalent 
officials of the agency, complete the comprehensive assessment, the 
Chief Information Officer shall submit the comprehensive assessment to 
the head of the agency.
(d) Subsequent Submission.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
on which the head of an agency receives the comprehensive assessment 
under subsection (c), the head of the agency shall submit the 
comprehensive assessment to--
(1) the Director;
(2) the Administrator;
(3) the Comptroller General of the United States;
(4) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate; and
(5) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 
House of Representatives.
(e) Consultation.--In order to ensure the utility and 
standardization of the comprehensive assessment of each agency, 
including to support the development of each plan and the report 
required under section 4(e)(2), the Director, in consultation with the 
Administrator, shall share information, best practices, and 
recommendations relating to the activities performed in the course of a 
comprehensive assessment of an agency.
(f) Intelligence Community.--For each element of the intelligence 
community, a comprehensive assessment described under subsection (a) 
shall be--
(1) conducted separately;
(2) performed only by an entity designated by the head of 
the element of the intelligence community, in accordance with 
appropriate applicable laws;
(3) performed in such a manner as to ensure appropriate 
protection of information which, if disclosed, may adversely 
affect national security; and
(4) submitted in summary form, not later than 30 days after 
the date on which the head of the element of the intelligence 
community receives the assessment, by the head of the element 
of the intelligence community to--
(A) the Director;
(B) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
Senate; and
(C) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 4. SOFTWARE MODERNIZATION PLANNING AT AGENCIES.

(a) In General.--The Chief Information Officer of each agency, in 
consultation with the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Acquisition 
Officer, the Chief Data Officer, and the General Counsel of the agency, 
or the equivalent officials of the agency, shall use the information 
developed pursuant to the comprehensive assessment of the agency to 
develop a plan for the agency--
(1) to consolidate software entitlements of the agency;
(2) to ensure that, in order to improve the performance of, 
and reduce unnecessary costs to, the agency, the Chief 
Information Officer, Chief Data Officer, and Chief Acquisition 
Officer of the agency, or the equivalent officers, develop 
criteria and procedures for how the agency will adopt cost-
effective acquisition strategies, including enterprise 
licensing, across the agency that reduce costs, eliminate 
excess licenses, and improve performance; and
(3) to restrict the ability of a bureau, program, 
component, or operational entity within the agency to acquire, 
use, develop, or otherwise leverage any software entitlement 
(or portion thereof) without the approval of the Chief 
Information Officer of the agency, in consultation with the 
Chief Acquisition Officer of the agency, or the equivalent 
officers of the agency.
(b) Plan Requirements.--The plan of an agency shall--
(1) include a detailed strategy for--
(A) the remediation of any software asset 
management deficiencies found during the comprehensive 
assessment of the agency;
(B) the ongoing maintenance of software asset 
management upon the completion of the remediation;
(C) automation of software license management 
processes and incorporation of discovery tools across 
the agency;
(D) ensuring that officers and employees of the 
agency are adequately trained in the policies, 
procedures, rules, regulations, and guidance relating 
to the software acquisition and development of the 
agency before entering into any agreement relating to 
any software entitlement (or portion thereof) for the 
agency, including training on--
(i) negotiating options within contracts to 
address and minimize provisions that restrict 
how the agency may deploy, access, or use the 
software, including restrictions on deployment, 
access, or use on desktop or server hardware 
and restrictions on data ownership or access;
(ii) the differences between acquiring 
commercial software products and services and 
acquiring or building custom software; and
(iii) determining the costs of different 
types of licenses and options for adjusting 
licenses to meet increasing or decreasing 
demand; and
(E) maximizing the effectiveness of software 
deployed by the agency, including, to the extent 
practicable, leveraging technologies that--
(i) measure actual software usage via 
analytics that can identify inefficiencies to 
assist in rationalizing software spending;
(ii) allow for segmentation of the user 
base;
(iii) support effective governance and 
compliance in the use of software; and
(iv) support interoperable capabilities 
between software;
(2) identify categories of software the agency could 
prioritize for conversion to more cost-effective software 
licenses, including enterprise licenses, as the software 
entitlements, contracts, and other agreements or arrangements 
come up for renewal or renegotiation;
(3) provide an estimate of the costs to move toward more 
enterprise, open-source, or other licenses that do not restrict 
the use of software by the agency, and the projected cost 
savings, efficiency measures, and improvements to agency 
performance throughout the total software lifecycle;
(4) identify potential mitigations to minimize software 
license restrictions on how such software can be deployed, 
accessed, or used, including any mitigations that would 
minimize any such restrictions on desktop or server hardware, 
through a cloud service provider, or on data ownership or 
access;
(5) ensure that the purchase by the agency of any software 
is based on publicly available criteria that are not unduly 
structured to favor any specific vendor, unless prohibited by 
law (including regulation);
(6) include any estimates for additional resources, 
services, or support the agency may need to implement the plan;
(7) provide information on the prevalence of software 
products in use across multiple software categories; and
(8) include any additional information, data, or analysis 
determined necessary by the Chief Information Officer, or other 
equivalent official, of the agency.
(c) Support.--The Chief Information Officer, or other equivalent 
official, of an agency may request support from the Director and the 
Administrator for any analysis or developmental needs to create the 
plan of the agency.
(d) Agency Submission.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
which the head of an agency submits the comprehensive 
assessment pursuant to section 3(d), the head of the agency 
shall submit to the Director, the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives the plan of the agency.
(2) Intelligence community.--Not later than 1 year after 
the date on which the head of an element of the intelligence 
community submits the summary assessment pursuant to section 
3(f)(4), the head of the element shall separately submit the 
plan of the element to the Director, the Select Committee on 
Intelligence of the Senate, and the Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
(e) Consultation and Coordination.--The Director--
(1) in coordination with the Administrator, the Chief 
Information Officers Council, the Chief Acquisition Officers 
Council, the Chief Data Officers Council, the Chief Financial 
Officers Council, and other government and industry 
representatives identified by the Director, shall establish 
processes, using existing reporting functions, as appropriate, 
to identify, define, and harmonize common definitions, terms 
and conditions, standardized requirements, and other 
information and criteria to support agency heads in developing 
and implementing the plans required by this section; and
(2) in coordination with the Administrator, and not later 
than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 
the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
of the House of Representatives a report detailing 
recommendations to leverage Government procurement policies and 
practices with respect to software acquired by, developed by, 
deployed within, or in use at 1 or more agencies to--
(A) increase the interoperability of software 
licenses, including software entitlements and software 
built by Government agencies;
(B) consolidate licenses, as appropriate;
(C) reduce costs;
(D) improve performance; and
(E) modernize the management and oversight of 
software entitlements and software built by Government 
agencies, as identified through an analysis of agency 
plans.

SEC. 5. GAO REPORT.

Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives a report on--
(1) Government-wide trends in agency software asset 
management practices;
(2) comparisons of software asset management practices 
among agencies;
(3) the establishment by the Director of processes to 
identify, define, and harmonize common definitions, terms, and 
conditions under section 4(e);
(4) agency compliance with the restrictions on contract 
support under section 3(b); and
(5) other analyses of and findings regarding the plans of 
agencies, as determined by the Comptroller General of the 
United States.

SEC. 6. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.

No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the 
purpose of carrying out this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives December 15, 2025.

Attest:

KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

Clerk.