Six Republican senators are demanding the Biden administration rescind a brand new rule that provides states and municipalities extra time to search out methods to spend billions in unused federal COVID-19 reduction regardless of the pandemic having ended.
In a letter Tuesday to the Treasury Department, the GOP senators stated Congress “will have no choice” however to attempt to reverse the choice underneath the Congressional Review Act if the administration doesn’t cease the brand new coverage.
“It is imperative that Treasury rescind this rule immediately,” the senators wrote. “With our national debt hitting unprecedented levels, the federal government must act as responsible stewards of the taxpayer’s dollars. An extension of COVID-19 era programs is especially perplexing as this administration ended the federal public health emergency for the pandemic on May 11, 2023.”
The Republicans who signed the letter are: Sens. Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, Mike Braun of Indiana, Rick Scott of Florida and Roger Marshall of Kansas.
The rule issued by the Treasury Department earlier than the Thanksgiving vacation relaxes how states and municipalities should legally obligate cash from the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund by the tip of subsequent 12 months.
The fund was created as a part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan signed by President Biden in 2021.
The right-leaning Economic Policy Innovation Center stated the transfer is permitting states and native governments to hoard cash from a $100 billion pot of unspent pandemic reduction, after billions have already got been spent on golf programs, lottery prizes in New Mexico for individuals who obtained the COVID-19 vaccine and authorized companies for asylum seekers in Illinois.
The suppose tank’s report stated the brand new Treasury rule is making a Biden “slush fund” for communities heading into the presidential election 12 months.
States and native governments up to now have obligated solely 56% of this system’s complete $350 billion appropriation.
A Treasury spokesperson instructed The Washington Times final week that the prevailing deadline for state and native governments put in place by Congress has not modified. Treasury didn’t present a direct response to the senators’ letter.
“To address grantee questions, Treasury clarified what recipients must do to meet a particular December 2024 cost incurred deadline that was established by Congress,” the spokesperson stated.
The senators stated Treasury is utilizing a “tortured definition” of when and the way communities should “obligate” their pandemic funding. They stated the legislation is obvious that recipients should specify how the cash is being spent by Dec. 31, 2024, and to spend it by Dec. 31, 2026.
“This rule is an insult to our basic rules of statutory construction and interpretation, as well as a complete misuse of our limited tax dollars,” the senators wrote. “As our nation’s debt is nearly $34 trillion — over $255,000 per taxpayer — Treasury must discard the rule immediately.”
The lawmakers stated there are “serious concerns about waste within” the pandemic program, however “it does not appear that recipients have had difficulty obligating or spending funding.”
They stated Treasury’s new interpretation of the legislation is “confounding.”
“There must be a present and definite agreement for an obligation to occur — not a future intention to come to an agreement,” the senators wrote. “Therefore, Treasury’s new definition — permitting recipients to make future agreements to spend [program] funds in 2025 and 2026 — stretches the word ‘obligation’ outside of any plain use of English.”
For extra data, go to The Washington Times COVID-19 useful resource web page.
