Washington, D.C. —Today, in response to reports that President Trump ordered the removal of the independent watchdog tasked with leading the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee overseeing the COVID-19 federal stimulus funds, Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) issued the following statement:

“The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented crisis for this country, not only economically, but for the health and safety of every American.  It places an enormous burden on every aspect of our society, requiring everyone to do their part in addressing this health emergency together.  And in responding to this pandemic, the federal government must act with honesty and transparency to assure the American people that everything within our power is being done to solve this crisis.  

“Yet despite this obligation, President Trump has repeatedly taken actions that should cause serious concern for all Americans.

“In the past few days, the President has fired the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community and relentlessly attacked the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.  Now he has removed the career professional in charge of overseeing how the President spends nearly $2 trillion in Congress-appropriated COVID-19 emergency funds.  This is unacceptable.  Our system of government depends on the hard work of independent inspectors general who root out and expose waste, fraud, and abuse where they find it.

“President Trump may think he can use a national emergency as a pretext to line his own pockets or settle petty, personal scores.  He is wrong.  Congress will back the inspector general community on a bipartisan basis—and these attacks will not distract us for holding the Trump Administration accountable for its inept response to the COVID-19 crisis."


BACKGROUND

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act created the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, responsible for identifying waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government’s response to the novel coronavirus.  Under the CARES Act, the committee consists of independent inspectors general appointed by the Chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency—in this case, Michael E. Horowitz, who also serves as Inspector General for the Department of Justice.  Now that the President has removed Glenn Fine from his position as acting Inspector General for the Department of Defense, Mr. Fine is no longer eligible to serve on the committee and it falls to Mr. Horowitz to name a successor.