The Senate has passed final reform legislation bringing the
Department of Homeland Security under the Chief Financial Officers
Act of 1990, a measure aimed at
increasing financial accountability in one of the government’s
largest agencies.
Sponsored by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., S 1567 is a companion
to a bill approved in the House in July — H.R. 4259 — sponsored
by Rep. Todd R. Platts, R-Pa., and if signed by the president, would
require DHS to submit audited financial statements to the Office of
Management and Budget and Congress.
It would also require the chief financial officer of DHS — the
only cabinet-level department not subject to the CFO act — to be
confirmed by the Senate and report directly to the agency head.