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Pelosi’s Virus Committee Would Add Another Level of Oversight

Pelosi Announces Bipartisan House Committee on Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber will create a special committee to oversee the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, including how the $2.2 trillion from last week’s stimulus plan is spent.

Pelosi told reporters Thursday that the bipartisan committee, to be led by third-ranking Democrat James Clyburn of South Carolina, will also seek to ensure that steps are taken based on science and to protect against price gouging of essential materials in the broader economy. The committee will have subpoena power, Pelosi said.

The committee’s aim will be to “ensure that the taxpayers dollars are being wisely and efficiently spent,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi’s Virus Committee Would Add Another Level of Oversight

Pelosi compared the new committee to the panel chaired by then-Senator Harry Truman in the 1940s to investigate defense spending as the country mobilized for World War II. Pelosi said Congress shouldn’t wait until the coronavirus is over to look into the government’s response and make bipartisan recommendations.

“We want to make sure there are not exploiters out there,” she said of the crisis. “Where there is money, there is mischief.”

This House committee would be separate from the layers of oversight included in the stimulus bill Congress passed last week. That law mandates a special inspector general, an accountability committee of relevant government departments and a five-person panel appointed by Congress to oversee part of the federal aid for companies.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and top Energy and Commerce Republican Greg Walden said in a telephone news conference that an additional House panel to oversee the coronavirus response isn’t needed.

“I think creating yet another committee, a select committee, is a big mistake,” said Walden.

Pelosi also expressed support for eventual creation of a separate commission to examine the response to the pandemic, similar to the House-Senate commission following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Such a panel would not be intended to “point fingers” and may not occur until after the election, she said.

“Let’s go forward with what we are doing now,” the speaker said.

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