Sen. Romney: White House COVID funding request was not transparent

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, questions witnesses during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Shawn Thew/Pool via AP)

OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 9:20 AM PT – Friday, June 17 2022

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has accused the White House of not being transparent with how it spent COVID relief funds. The Utah lawmaker made the accusation during a Senate COVID hearing with administration officials Thursday.

While questioning Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Dawn O’Connell, Romney asked why the administration had misled legislators while requesting pandemic aid. The senator claimed the White House had said it was unable to procure additional therapeutics and vaccines, but was suddenly able to do so in June.

“We have runaway inflation, yet this administration has recklessly and unilaterally spent taxpayer money and has failed to be transparent with Congress about it,” noted the Republican. “Their careless stewardship and dishonesty tears at the trust relationship our branches of government operate on.”

Months ago, the Administration asked Congress for new funding to purchase COVID-19 therapeutics. Later, their plea proved misleading when they diverted existing funds to make the purchase—exposing that additional taxpayer money was unnecessary. This dishonesty is unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/krBtoaKW5I

— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) June 16, 2022

Romney alleged the White House knew it was feasible to purchase such means, but chose to disperse funds towards other endeavors.

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