White House proposes $1.6 billion to combat ‘historic’ covid aid fraud
Washington PostMar 02, 2023
The Facts
US Pres. Joe Biden on Thursday called on Congress to approve a $1.6B package to address fraud stemming from the government's COVID pandemic relief programs, including identity theft.
According to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), a federal watchdog, the government has issued nearly $5B in "potentially fraudulent" pandemic-related loans.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Under the pandemic relief measures, a large amount of fraud and theft were allowed to occur, but this wasn't just under Pres. Biden; Trump is actually the one who approved the majority of the measures the fraud stemmed from. Biden is now trying to clean up this mess with his latest proposal and recover lost funds while doing his part to ensure that this doesn't occur again.
Republican narrative
Federal officials, abandoning their due diligence, have been slow to hold the COVID fraudsters to account. Congress owes it to every taxpaying American to investigate where their money really went. While Biden — who is feeling the pressure from the GOP-controlled House — is finally making moves to address this issue, he needs to play catch up with the Republican committee that has long prioritized addressing the abuse in pandemic spending.
