“A new Government Accountability Office report out Thursday highlights how unprepared the US government was to tackle coronavirus and deal with the corresponding economic crisis that required Congress to get trillions in federal stimulus dollars out the door.”
“The report — which is just the latest look at the US government’s response to the coronavirus — lays out how the US fell short on everything from testing to ensuring hospitals and states had adequate supplies. It also looks closely at how agencies struggled to ensure billions in stimulus dollars got to American struggling with an economic crisis.”
“‘Both the Congress and the administration have acted to mobilize resources quickly to help the nation respond to and recover from the pandemic. However, the negative effects of the pandemic on families, communities, and health care systems and on the long-term economic condition of millions of Americans and U.S. businesses are likely to persist into the future,’ the report states.”
“The report also found that because of an interpretation of the law Treasury was operating under, they did not use death records to ensure that the direct payment checks were going to people who filed taxes in 2019 and were still living. Therefore according to the report, the IRS paid out $1.4 billion in payments to descendants.”
“The report laid out that the Strategic National Stockpile was not equipped to handle the demand generated by states and localities in need of personal protective equipment, ventilators and other critical medical supplies…” Read the full article here.
Source: GAO report finds widespread delays in US government response to Coronavirus – By Lauren Fox and Gregory Wallace, June 25, 2020. CNN.
