United States:
COVID-19: Weekly Oversight And Enforcement Report—Week Of April 15, 2021
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A. Congress |
- The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis
released documents showing President Trump's political
appointees discussing their efforts to exert influence
over the CDC's COVID-19 guidelines and reports to more closely
align them with the President's messaging and reopening
strategy. After releasing these documents, the Select Subcommittee
sent letters to three Trump Administration advisors
seeking both additional documents and transcribed interviews
regarding their roles in the Trump Administration's pandemic
response.
- The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis will hold a
hearing on April 15 titled "Reaching the
Light at the End of the Tunnel: A Science-Driven Approach to
Swiftly and Safely Ending the Pandemic." This will be the
panel's first hearing during which Biden Administration health
officials testify. The witnesses scheduled are CDC Director Dr.
Rochelle Walensky, Director of the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, and HHS Chief Science
Officer Dr. David Kessler.
- The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion held its first
hearing on April 13 entitled "The State
of Travel and Tourism During COVID." The hearing focused on
the negative economic impact of the pandemic on travel and tourism
in the United States. Stakeholders from the tourism and hospitality
industry testified before the committee. In her opening statement, Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
said she "intend[s] to use this Subcommittee to find
bipartisan pathways and solutions" to bring the tourism
industry "back to its thriving pre-pandemic economic
status."
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B. Executive Agencies |
- An indictment unsealed Wednesday charged a Colorado physician with stealing
nearly $300,000 in government funds from three different
COVID-relief programs. According to court documents, he allegedly
transferred approximately $118,000 received under the Accelerated
and Advance Payment Program (AAPP) and the Provider Relief Fund
(PRF) from a medical clinic's account into his personal bank
account. This is the first time charges have been brought for AAPP
fraud, and only the second indictment related to misuse of PRF
money. The indictment further alleges that, following his
termination from the clinic, he applied for a $179,999 PPP loan on
behalf of the medical practice, which he then directed into his
personal bank account.
- On April 9, President Biden picked Doug Parker to run OSHA. Parker has
served as chief of California's Division of Occupational Safety
and Health, or Cal/OSHA, since 2019. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Chair
of the House Committee on Education and Labor, said Friday that
Parker "is the right choice" to lead OSHA. "Doug
Parker understands what it takes to protect workers on the job,
particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic," Scott said.
"With the appointment of this wellqualified safety and health
expert, workers will have yet another strong ally in the Biden
administration."
- OSHA cited the owner of Liberty Tax Service
$136,532 for failing to implement measures to prevent the spread of
the coronavirus, specifically for prohibiting her employees and
customers from wearing masks and social distancing. "This
employer's willful refusal to implement basic safeguards places
her employees at an increased risk of contracting and spreading the
coronavirus," OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton said
in a statement. "Stopping the spread of this virus requires
business' support in implementing COVID-19 Prevention Programs
and ensuring that staff and customers wear face coverings and
maintain physical distance from each other."
|
C. State Attorneys General |
No updates this week
|
D. Special Inspector General for
Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) |
- On April 9, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of South
Dakota announced that a Sioux Falls man had been
indicted on a number of charges, including bank fraud, attempted
bank fraud, and false statement in connection with loans under the
PPP and the Main Street Lending Program. The press release noted
that the SIGPR is assisting in the case.
|
E. Pandemic Recovery Accountability
Committee (PRAC) |
- On April 9, PRAC Chair Michael Horowitz and Acting HHS
Inspector General Christi Grimm coauthored an article for CNN, offering recommendations
for improving coronavirus tests. Their suggestions include
investing in public-health infrastructure, incentive payment
structures for labs to produce quick results, ensuring payments for
testing are "economical," and using "more and better
multi-dimensional demographic data (including race and
ethnicity)" to "inform policy decisions that target
testing efforts and help further monitor public health in
disproportionately impacted groups."
- On April 7, the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity
and Efficiency published its fiscal 2020 annual report to Congress and the president,
which recapped PRAC's work. "By leveraging the
Council's existing infrastructure, PRAC was able to launch
operations almost immediately and initiate public reporting within
30 days via a new, purpose-built website
pandemicoversight.gov," said the report. "At the close of
FY20, the PRAC was already tracking nearly $800 billion in dollars
obligated or spent, across 20 agencies, 3.9 million recipients and
multiple states. Dozens of instances of criminal activity involving
millions of dollars in pandemic-related funding has also been
identified and is being acted upon by PRAC-member [offices of
inspector general]."
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