House creates new coronavirus oversight panel over GOP objections

The House voted 388-5 on Thursday to send a nearly $500 billion coronavirus relief bill to President Trump's desk, the third major pot of money Congress has dumped on the COVID-19 pandemic. But with socially distanced lawmakers gathered in face masks, the House also created a new 12-member coronavirus oversight committee along partisan lines, 212-182. Republicans objected to the panel, housed under the House Oversight Committee, arguing it is superfluous and would be used for partisan ends.

The new committee, led by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), will be charged with overseeing how taxpayer money is used to address the coronavirus crisis; investigating any waste or mismanagement, the effectiveness of coronavirus legislation, and federal preparedness; and keeping an eye on the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus crisis, Politico reports. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will name seven of the 12 members, said the panel will focus less on Trump and more on people trying to exploit the crisis and misuse the unprecedented cascade of money pouring from Congress to blunt the crisis.

House Republicans noted there are already three oversight mechanisms created by the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. But none of them are up and running yet. Trump fired Glenn Fine, the inspector general tapped by other inspectors general to lead the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee overseeing the entire relief effort, and Trump's nominee for a different watchdog overseeing a $500 billion corporate loan program, Brian Miller, is a lawyer in Trump's White House, putting his Senate confirmation in doubt.

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The five-member Congressional Oversight Commission does not yet have leader — Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have to agree on the chair — and until Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), and Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) were named to the panel last Friday, it had only one member, Bharat Ramamurti, a former top staffer for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). With no staff, budget, or office, Bloomberg News reported, Ramamurti started his oversight duties with the only tool he had: his unverified Twitter account.