The $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue package has a new watchdog

Glenn Fine
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.