🕵️ Federal Spending Forensic API

The official USASpending API has a $195 BILLION blind spot. This Actor uses forensic cross-referencing to find the "Dark Money" contracts 49 federal agencies forgot to report.

🎯 The Problem

The federal spending transparency system is broken:

Issue	Impact	Source
49 agencies don't report to USASpending.gov	>$5B in hidden spending	GAO-24-106214
$195 Billion COVID spending discrepancy	Treasury vs. USASpending mismatch	GAO-24-106214
$1.2 Trillion in awards not linked to key data	Missing disaster/emergency spending info	GAO-24-106214

Existing solutions either:

• 💸 Cost $7,500+/seat (Bloomberg Gov, GovSpend)
• 😤 Require complex POST requests with aggressive rate limits (Official API)
• 😴 Passively scrape without forensic analysis (Other Apify actors)

💡 The Solution

Fed-Money Recon doesn't just scrape—it audits:

"Stop fighting for the visible 70%—snatch the 30% that requires forensic extraction."

🔥 Key Features

Feature	What It Does	Why It Matters
🕵️ Dark Money Detection	Cross-references USASpending with agency-direct data	Find contracts competitors don't know exist
🚨 Discrepancy Alerts	Flags when agency data doesn't match public API	Front-run the news cycle
🔗 Sub-Award Tracing	Maps Prime → Sub contractor money flow	Find tier-2/3 opportunities in Denver
🏛️ Missing Agency Alerts	Flags the 49 GAO-identified under-reporters	Know when data is incomplete
⚡ Instant B2G API	No registration, no rate limits	Target Agency → JSON Output
🤖 LLM-Optimized Output	Structured for AI agents	Perfect for RAG pipelines

🚀 Quick Start

Basic Contract Search

{
  "searchMode": "contracts",
  "agency": "Department of Defense",
  "fiscalYear": 2024,
  "maxResults": 100,
  "enableForensicFlags": true
}

Forensic Audit Mode

{
  "searchMode": "forensicAudit",
  "agency": "all",
  "fiscalYear": 2024,
  "maxResults": 500,
  "enableForensicFlags": true,
  "traceSubAwards": true,
  "crossReferenceAgencyPortals": true,
  "detectMissingAgencies": true,
  "includeGaoFindings": true
}

Local Contractor Search (Denver Focus)

{
  "searchMode": "contracts",
  "recipientState": "CO",
  "recipientCity": "Denver",
  "fiscalYear": 2024,
  "minAwardAmount": 100000,
  "maxResults": 200
}

Sub-Award Chain Mapping

{
  "searchMode": "subAwards",
  "agency": "Department of Defense",
  "fiscalYear": 2024,
  "maxResults": 50
}

📊 Output Structure

Contract Record (Detailed)

{
  "awardId": "CONT_AWD_123456_9700_...",
  "piid": "FA8501-24-C-0001",
  "recipientName": "Lockheed Martin Corporation",
  "recipientUei": "EXAMPLE1234567",
  "awardAmount": 45000000,
  "obligatedAmount": 12500000,
  "awardDate": "2024-01-15",
  "awardingAgency": "Department of Defense",
  "awardingAgencyCode": "097",
  "naicsCode": "541330",
  "naicsDescription": "Engineering Services",
  "description": "Advanced weapons system development...",
  
  "forensicFlags": [
    {
      "type": "covid_spending_mismatch",
      "severity": "warning",
      "message": "COVID-related spending detected - GAO found $195B in COVID reporting discrepancies",
      "source": "forensic_analysis",
      "confidence": 75
    }
  ],
  "discrepancyScore": 35,
  
  "placeOfPerformance": {
    "city": "Denver",
    "state": "CO",
    "congressionalDistrict": "01"
  },
  
  "dataSource": "usaspending",
  "extractedAt": "2024-01-20T10:30:00Z"
}

Discrepancy Alert

{
  "agencyName": "Department of the Treasury",
  "agencyCode": "TREAS",
  "reportedAmount": 50000000000,
  "actualAmount": 245000000000,
  "discrepancy": 195000000000,
  "discrepancyPercent": 390,
  "gaoFlagged": true,
  "confidenceScore": 90,
  "source": "GAO-24-106214 - COVID-19 obligations discrepancy",
  "details": "Known GAO-identified reporting discrepancy"
}

Forensic Report

The Key-Value Store contains a comprehensive FORENSIC_REPORT with:

• Executive summary with total discrepancies
• Top 10 highest-risk contracts
• Missing agency alerts
• Data quality scores
• Actionable recommendations

🎯 Use Cases

1. 🏢 B2G Startups

Problem: Can't afford $22k/year Bloomberg seat
Solution: Instant API access to contract intelligence with forensic flags

2. 📰 Investigative Journalists

Problem: Need to audit federal spending for stories
Solution: Discrepancy alerts + missing agency detection = front-page material

3. 🔨 Government Contractors

Problem: Finding sub-award opportunities
Solution: Trace money flow from DoD → Prime → You

4. 🤖 AI Agents / LLMs

Problem: Need structured government data for RAG
Solution: LLM-optimized output format with consistent schema

📈 Forensic Flag Types

Flag Type	Severity	Description
missing_agency_data	Warning	Agency is one of 49 GAO-identified under-reporters
discrepancy_detected	Critical	Mismatch between USASpending and agency-direct data
gao_flagged	Warning	GAO audit finding related to this agency/contract
late_reporting	Info	Data reported >365 days after award date
amount_anomaly	Info	Suspiciously round numbers or unusual patterns
covid_spending_mismatch	Warning	COVID funds—GAO found $195B discrepancy
unlinked_award	Info	Missing NAICS/PSC codes (part of $1.2T unlinked)
sub_award_gap	Warning	Sub-awards don't sum to prime award amount

⚡ Performance

Metric	Value
Average extraction	50-100 contracts/minute
Rate limit handling	Automatic backoff
Forensic analysis	<1ms per contract
Max results	1,000 per run

💰 Pricing

• $0.03 per result (contracts, awards, agencies)
• Minimum charge: $0.01

Far cheaper than Bloomberg Gov's $7,500/seat/year!

🔌 n8n Integration

Install the companion n8n node for workflow automation:

$npm install n8n-nodes-federal-spending-forensic-api

See the n8n Integration Guide for workflow examples.

🤝 API Reference

Endpoints Used

• POST /api/v2/search/spending_by_award/ - Contract/award search
• GET /api/v2/awards/count/subaward/{id} - Sub-award counts
• POST /api/v2/subawards/ - Sub-award details
• GET /api/v2/agency/{code}/ - Agency profiles

Rate Limiting

The official USASpending API has aggressive rate limits that return silent empty responses. This Actor implements:

• Automatic request throttling (150ms minimum between requests)
• Exponential backoff on 429 responses
• Retry logic with jitter

📚 Data Sources

Source	Type	Reliability
USASpending.gov	Official API	Primary (with known gaps)
GAO-24-106214	Audit report	Forensic baseline
Agency Direct*	Cross-reference	Enhanced (when enabled)

*Agency-direct cross-referencing is a premium feature requiring additional configuration.

🏆 Why Choose This Actor?

Factor	Official API	Bloomberg Gov	This Actor
Cost	Free	$7,500+/year	$0.03/result
Setup	Complex POST requests	Sales call required	Instant
Rate Limits	Aggressive	N/A	Handled automatically
Forensic Analysis	❌	Limited	✅ Full
Missing Agency Detection	❌	❌	✅ 49 agencies
Sub-Award Tracing	Painful	✅	✅ Automated
LLM-Optimized	❌	❌	✅

📞 Support

• Author: Jason Pellerin (AI Solutionist)
• Email: jason@jasonpellerin.com
• Website: jasonpellerin.com
• Issues: GitHub Issues

📜 License

MIT License - Use freely for commercial and non-commercial purposes.

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