House Democrats approved Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s coronavirus oversight committee on a party-line vote Thursday, over Republican objections that the panel is a partisan redundancy.
“The committee will root out waste, fraud and abuse,” Mrs. Pelosi said on the floor. “It will be laser-focused on ensuring that taxpayer money goes to workers’ paychecks and benefits, and it will ensure the federal response is based on the best possible science and guided by health experts and that the money invested is not being exploited by profiteers and price gougers.”
The resolution passed on a 212-182 vote.
Not all members were able to travel to Capitol Hill on Thursday for the recorded vote due to health concerns. The House even implemented new policies as safety precautions — requesting members use spaced out voting machines on the floor, urging everyone to wear masks, and breaking up the vote into nine blocks and only allowing small groups of members on the floor at a time.
The panel, set to be chaired by Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, is intended to ensure the $2.2 trillion allocated in the third coronavirus package in aid to small businesses, state and local governments, and large corporations all hard-hit by the pandemic aren’t misused. It will be a subset of the House Oversight Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney.
Mrs. Pelosi compared this new committee to the one then-Sen. Harry S. Truman created in 1941 to crack down on inefficiencies and abuse of funds for World War II.
“Harry Truman explained at the time that it was critical at the time that it was critical during this effort to conduct oversight, to prevent the waste of taxpayers’ funds rather than waiting until after they were spent,” Ms. Maloney said. “Catching problems early and correcting them immediately saved not only money but lives. Today, our nation, our economy and our people face a similar mobilization effort.”
Republicans, however, argue the committee is a waste of time and an opportunity for Democrats to launch another partisan probe against President Trump.
They cited that the last package already established a new special inspector general for pandemic recovery appointed by the president, a new oversight body within the inspectors’ general community, and an independent congressional panel appointed by House and Senate leaders. The law also gave $20 million to the nonpartisan congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability Office.
Rep. Jim Jordan, ranking member of the Oversight Committee, pointed out that the House already has eight committees with jurisdiction over the coronavirus funds.
“The ninth is political,” the Ohio Republican argued. “The ninth [is] looking out for Joe Biden. The ninth to go after President Trump. This is just a continuation of the attack the Democrats have had on the president for the past four years.”
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy argued that the committee is biased from the start, given that Mr. Clyburn is set as its head. Republicans have repeatedly criticized Mr. Clyburn since he reportedly told Democrats the coronavirus was an opportunity to push through their agenda in a closed-door meeting.
“This committee will be the only committee weighted politically. There will be seven Democrats and five Republicans,” the California Republican said. “Why wasn’t [Mr. Clyburn] put on the Congressional oversight that was equal with the number of Republicans and the number of Democrats? The public does not want to see politics.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.