	Introduction

The federal government spends more than $80 billion each year on information technology (IT) investments; in FY2017 that investment is expected to increase to more than $89 billion. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that, historically, the projects supported by these investments have often incurred "multi-million dollar cost overruns and years-long schedule delays." In addition, they may contribute little to mission-related outcomes and, in some cases, may fail altogether. These undesirable results, according to GAO, "can be traced to a lack of disciplined and effective management and inadequate executive-level oversight." The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act ( FITARA ) was enacted on December 19, 2014, to address these issues and codify existing initiatives managed by the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO). Oversight of Federal CIO Initiatives

Through hearings and GAO investigations, Congress has been active in monitoring the activities of the Federal CIO and the initiatives carried out by the office. Congress has been especially attentive to the topics of data center use and cloud adoption as they relate to achieving the goals of FITARA. Legislation

Two pairs of companion bills related to FITARA have been signed into law in the 115 th Congress, the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017 (MGT Act) ( H.R. 2227 , S. 990 , P.L. 115-91 ) and the FITARA Enhancement Act of 2017 ( H.R. 3243 , S. 1867 , P.L. 115-88 ). FITARA Enhancement Act of 2017

H.R. Hearings

The House has held four hearings related to FITARA:
The Federal Information T echnology Reform Act Scorecard 6 .0 Joint Hearing: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Subcommittees on Information Technology and Government Operations) May 23, 2018 The Federal Information T echnology Reform Act Scorecard 5 .0 Joint Hearing: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Subcommittees on Information Technology and Government Operations) November 14, 2017 The Federal Information T echnology Reform Act Scorecard 4 .0 Joint Hearing: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Subcommittees on Information Technology and Government Operations) June 15, 2017 GAO'S 2017 High-Risk Report: 34 Programs in Peril House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform February 15, 2017

		Government Accountability Office Reports and Testimony, 2016-2017

The GAO has conducted numerous investigations into the initiatives being carried out under the auspices of the U.S. CIO.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that the federal government budgets more than $80 billion each year on information technology (IT) investments and in FY2017, GAO estimates that this investment will increase to more than $89 billion. Historically, the projects supported by these investments have often incurred "multi-million dollar cost overruns and years-long schedule delays." In addition, GAO has reported that these projects may contribute little to mission-related outcomes and, in some cases, may fail altogether. These undesirable results, according to GAO, "can be traced to a lack of disciplined and effective management and inadequate executive-level oversight."
The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) was enacted on December 19, 2014, to establish a long-term framework through which federal IT investments could be tracked, assessed, and managed, to significantly reduce wasteful spending and improve project outcomes. These requirements of FITARA are carried out by the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO). The position of the Federal CIO was created by the E-Government Act of 2002 as the "Administrator, Office of Electronic Government."
Congress and GAO have actively monitored the activities of the Federal CIO and the initiatives carried out by the office. Both have been especially attentive to the topics of data center use and cloud deployment as they relate to achieving the goals of FITARA.
Two pairs of companion bills related to FITARA have been signed into law in the 115th Congress, the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017 (MGT Act) (H.R. 2227, S. 990, P.L. 115-91) and the FITARA Enhancement Act of 2017 (H.R. 3243, S. 1867, P.L. 115-88). Additionally, the House has held four hearings related to FITARA.