On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH) and U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) introduced a resolution disapproving of the U.S. Treasury Department’s use of COVID recovery funds.
Balderson and Schmitt led a group of Congress members in filing the resolution under the Congressional Review Act that questioned continued use of COVID recovery money, as well as redefining the original intention of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF).
“The Biden Treasury Department is scrambling to keep their ‘COVID’ slush fund up and running even though the public health emergency ended nearly a year ago,” Balderson said. “After ushering in record inflation through reckless spending, the Administration has evidently not learned its lesson. Treasury’s Hoarding Rule is a clear abuse of power by the federal bureaucracy in a desperate attempt to circumvent Congress’s deadline and prolong their taxpayer-funded cash giveaway. Our legislation will step in and block the Administration from doling out billions of dollars under the guise of a national crisis that has long passed.”
In 2021, the American Rescue Plan provided $350 billion for the SLFRF as a way to help state and local governments recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the congressmen said, there is approximately $109 billion in SLFRF funding not allocated. Originally, the Treasury Department defined a cost incurred as “the recipient has incurred the obligation with respect to such cost by Dec. 31, 2024.” Since then, the Treasury Department has changed the definition of an “obligation,” the congressmen said, to allow states and localities to continue to spend the funding beyond 2024 so long as they report potential ideas on spending before the year-end deadline.
“Americans are tired of watching hard earned tax dollars be thrown away, and the recent move by bureaucrats in Biden’s Treasury Department to redefine a critical definition of how money is allocated from SLFRF underscores this administration’s disregard for any sort of fiscal responsibility,” Schmitt said. “Standing against business-as-usual out of control spending shouldn’t be a partisan issue.”
The two congressmen were joined by U.S. Reps. Kevin Hern (R-OK), Ben Cline (R-VA), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Randy Weber (R-TX), Chuck Edwards (R-NC) Byron Donalds (R-FL), John Moolenaar (R-MI) Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), and Jeff Duncan (R-SC), and U.S. Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).