Key vulnerable Senate Republicans on the ballot this fall have refused to condemn President Donald Trump’s removal of the independent Inspector General to oversee the $2 trillion coronavirus relief fund. The position is “meant to safeguard against wasteful spending of the coronavirus funds” and removal raises concerns about the interference in the work to protect the relief aid from abuse.
Senate Republicans have mostly been silent on the move or actually defended Trump. When asked about the issue in an interview yesterday, spineless Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said: “I’m going to leave it up to the President to make the decisions about the staff.”
As GOP senators refuse to take action to push back, Trump is engaged in a broader effort to undermine Inspectors General across the federal government and target even more for removal. Last week, Trump fired the intelligence community watchdog — retaliating against the independent official who informed Congress of the Ukraine whistleblower complaint that led to his impeachment.
“This is the largest economic relief package in American history with trillions of taxpayer dollars at stake, and it’s critical this rescue money get to the states, hospitals, businesses, and workers who need it most — and not be mismanaged or abused by corporate CEOs or partisan special interests in Washington,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “The president just removed the independent watchdog whose job was to root out fraud, misconduct, and abuse of power. Senate Republicans already failed their constituents once when they repeatedly voted for a flawed plan last month that lacked strong independent oversight, and voters will hold them accountable if they refuse to take action to reverse this corrupt decision.”
Before Democrats improved the final package, McConnell forced two failed partisan votes in the Senate on a GOP plan for this relief spending that amounted to a “slush fund” giveaway to giant corporations with no real independent oversight structure, a lack of basic transparency for the public, and scarce accountability to taxpayers. The original Republican agenda for the $500 billion fund also did not have clear rules to prevent corporations from abusing federal aid by buying back their own stock, handing out CEO pay increases and bonuses, or firing their employees.
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