Comer, Brady Demand Transparency for $150 Billion in CARES Act Funding Provided to State and Local Governments

Call on Secretary Yellen, Treasury Inspector General to Investigate Funding Distribution

WASHINGTON – House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Committee on Ways and Means Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-Texas) today wrote Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Department of Treasury Deputy Inspector General Richard Delmar calling for accountability and transparency regarding the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), part of the CARES Act.

Congress created and appropriated $150 billion to the CRF to cover pandemic related expenses for state and local governments, territories, tribal governments, and the District of Columbia. Congress needs to fully understand how much of the funds paid out to states and localities have been used for their intended pandemic related purposes. Congress and the U.S. Treasury owe it to the American taxpayer whether funds used met the letter of the law.

“Congress already has provided billions of taxpayer dollars to state and local governments and it remains unclear how the money has been used and how much remains to be spent. Before Democrats attempt to provide hundreds of billions more to locked-down and poorly managed liberal states, Congress needs all of the facts first to prevent government waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars. The American people must have transparency within the federal bureaucracy and accountability for how their taxpayer dollars are spent, especially now given the price tag of each coronavirus relief bill,” said Ranking Member Comer.

“Economists on all sides of the aisle agree that any further relief needs to be targeted. If the President is insistent that Congress needs to spend nearly $2 trillion, let’s first find out how much of that is being hoarded by states at the expense of helping to create jobs for families and Main Street businesses,” said Ranking Member Brady.

The full letter Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is available here.

The full letter to Treasury Deputy Inspector General Richard Delmar is available here.