The inspectors general of U.S. federal agencies on Monday tapped Glenn Fine, the acting Pentagon inspector general, to lead the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, a body of 10 inspectors general who will oversee implementation of the massive $2.2 trillion package designed to shelter the U.S. economy from the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee Fine leads is one of three oversight boards Democrats insisted on including in the legislation, which gives Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin broad discretion over where to direct the huge pots of money.
Fine, who was Justice Department inspector general from 2000 to 2011 and has served as acting Defense Department inspector general for the past four years, has a good reputation in Washington. The other two oversight boards set up in the law are a congressional oversight committee, whose five members will be chosen by the Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, and a "special inspector general" charged with overseeing a $500 loan program for large businesses, states, and local governments. President Trump will pick that inspector general, though the Senate must confirm his nominee.
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