EDITORIAL: Pandemic dollars: GOP correct in demanding accountability

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and 35 of her Republican colleagues, are seeking a detailed listing from the Biden administration on how the first $6 trillion in pandemic relief funding has been spent.

It’s a reasonable request, particularly considering that the administration is now asking Congress for another $30 billion in COVID-19 relief.

The public has a right to know how these tax payer dollars are being spent. There should be a full and complete public disclosure of where the first $6 trillion has gone.

Capito, and her fellow Republicans, point to the lack of accountability to date for the trillions allocated during the past two years. In a letter to the administration, the 35 Republican senators argue that “questions are mounting about where exactly the additional money has gone.” They also highlight a recent Washington Post report that details the administration’s lack of accounting to date on how the pandemic money has been spent.

The bulk of that money was given to states for various pandemic services and Capito said during a recent virtual press conference from her Washington office that the states should have accountability as well. Still, she points to the fact that it is federal money.

“The administration should tell us where this money has gone and how much more is to go out,” Capito said last week. “They are asking for billions more for more pandemic relief and assistance on vaccines. We have already given billions and billions in those areas.”

While it is true that the pandemic was a public health emergency, that doesn’t constitute an acceptable justification for doling out trillions in federal funds without proper accountability of where those tax-payer funds are going.

It is certainly troubling to hear that more than two years into the pandemic, there is still not a proper accounting of where the $6 trillion in pandemic funds expended to date have gone.

Capito, and her Republican colleagues, are right in demanding a full accountability of where the money has gone. The administration must make this information available immediately. The states also must provide a full and proper accounting of where the federal pandemic dollars received to date have gone.

The public has a right to know.