House votes to create select committee to oversee coronavirus response – By Cristina Marcos (The Hill) / April 23 2020
The House on Thursday voted to create a select committee to oversee the federal response to the coronavirus crisis, with Republicans accusing Democrats of trying to use it as a cudgel against President Trump during an election year.
The panel, to be led by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), is set up to include 12 members — seven Democrats and five Republicans — and will have broad investigative authority over how taxpayer dollars are allocated and the Trump administration’s preparations for the crisis.
A resolution to formally establish the select committee passed on a vote of 212-182 along party lines, with Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) voting with Republicans in opposition.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the creation of the committee earlier this month, but Thursday was the first time the full House could vote to officially establish the panel.
“The committee will root out waste, fraud and abuse,” Pelosi said during House floor debate. “It will be laser-focused on ensuring that taxpayer money goes to workers, paychecks and benefits. And it will ensure that 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 select panel, which will established as an investigative subcommittee of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, will be charged with reviewing the “efficiency, effectiveness, equity and transparency” of how relief funds are allocated; disparate impacts of the coronavirus on different communities based on demographics such as race, age and geographic region; and the Trump administration’s deliberations and communications related to the crisis.
Republicans dismissed the panel as unnecessary, pointing to the existing House committees with jurisdiction over the coronavirus pandemic like the full Oversight committee and the Ways and Means, Financial Services, Education and Labor, and Energy and Commerce committees.
Continue to article: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/494340-house-votes-to-create-select-committee-to-oversee-coronavirus-response
