According to Politico, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is poised to launch a series of probes into the federal government’s handling of various aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, ranging from testing to the distribution of stimulus funds.
Several subjects like the distribution of medical equipment and the national food supply are going to be examined according to the publication.
Angela Nicole Clowers, the chief of the GAO’s health care unit, was talking with Politico on the subject as she said:
‘’We’re an existing institution and have a lot of institutional knowledge about all these programs. It gives us sort of a leg up.’’
The GAO is required to brief Congress a minimum once a month and to share reports with the public twice a month about its findings.
‘’Within GAO, we have everyone from policy analysts or public policy people like myself. We have nurses, we have scientists, we have engineers, we have lawyers. You sort of name an occupation, we have ‘em,’’ said Clowers.
The office made a similar analysis of the federal response to the 2008 global financial crisis, and Clowers said that that could serve as a model for what is going to happen next.
‘’Things are always shifting and changing as the agencies shift and change to the evolving pandemic needs. We have experience doing that. We try to be as nimble as possible.’’
According to The Hill, President Trump has frequently voiced his displeasure with agency watchdogs and inspectors general, recently firing the IG for the intelligence community who first reported the whistleblower complaint to Congress that led to his impeachment. The GAO differs from other watchdogs, however, because it answers to Congress rather than the president.
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) was talking with Politico on this as he said:
‘’We may need to strengthen GAO’s arsenal going forward. They can bring lawsuits and seek court orders to provide information but those can be a long process. We may need to allow them to expedite that process to enforce their subpoenas.’’
The ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Greg Waldem (R-Ore.) said:
‘’GAO is always significant. Their expertise and resources is a major asset that our committee taps often.’’
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