Watchdogs warn of strain on agencies from pandemic response

[Mike 03]

Associated Press via San Francisco Chronicle
By MATTHEW DALY and MARY CLARE JALONICK
June 17, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new oversight board is warning about the strain of the coronavirus pandemic on the U.S. government and calling into question Washington's ability to effectively manage trillions of dollars in aid and keep federal workers safe.

The inaugural report released Wednesday by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee cites an array of challenges in responding to the outbreak. Thirty-seven agencies summarized the obstacles they face, with financial management and health and safety at the top of most lists.

The report emphasizes a few core concerns, including the financial management of more than $2 trillion in new spending and protecting the health and safety of government workers at prisons, national parks, meatpacking plants and other worksites deemed essential during the pandemic.

The need to quickly spend money authorized by the economic rescue law and to manage new programs “presents a significant challenge to many executive branch agencies,” the report said. The sheer size of the largest rescue effort ever approved by Congress increases the risk for fraud and misuse, it said.

The warnings come as Republicans and Democrats in Congress have pushed back on the Treasury Department's efforts to limit the release of data on what businesses and other entities have received loans from the government.

Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/amp/Watchdogs-warn-of-strain-on-agencies-from-15346221.php

[crickets]

1. Sounds like someone is laying groundwork for excuses and more lies.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Congress last week that the information is "proprietary," but lawmakers want details released.

Congress has power of the purse, and that includes oversight on spending. The "proprietary" excuse is a lie.

core concerns, including the financial management of more than $2 trillion in new spending and protecting the health and safety of government workers

How the money is spent and protection for government workers may be related, but they are two separate issues. Bundling them together this way is an attempt to imply that Congressional spending oversight would endanger those workers. This is also a lie.