PPP Fraud Investigated in House Oversight Hearing

Nicholas AnthonyIn what was one of the first hearings of the new Congress, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability convenedto investigate the“rampant waste of taxpayer dollars in [COVID-19] relief programs.” Chief among the programs considered was the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. As I explained ina new briefing paper, there was a clear failure of federal oversight for the PPP during the pandemic and an evaluation of the issues has been long overdue.Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), set the hearing off on the right foot when he said the primary issue was that “Agencies should have been much better prepared in order to prevent fraud in the first place.” Small businesses shouldn’t have had to navigate whatZachary Warmbrodt at Politico described as a “roller coaster” of “ever‐​changing rules and shifting deadlines.” In fact, RepresentativeNancy Mace (R ‑SC) pointed outthis issue well while noting how “guidance was vague” and led to “integrity concerns” that likely exacerbated the risks of fraud.Unfortunately, the root of the issue has been clear since the programs were first launched. As RepresentativeJames Comer (R ‑KY) noted, “Congress…spent far too much time pushing money out the door and far too little time conducting meaningful oversight of how that money [was] being spent.”To get a better understanding of just how obvious the issue was, consider...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs