ADMIN

 

Democrats are willing to throw everyone under the bus to get their ...

U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn is setting an expansive, ambitious agenda for his new role in policing the use of federal money surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and influencing spending priorities relating to the virus.

In a 50-minute phone interview with The State on Saturday, the South Carolina Democrat laid out, for the first time, his priorities for the new oversight panel of which he will serve as chairman.

His far-reaching vision for the Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis comes at a time when the year’s congressional schedule is in flux, with social-distancing mandates clouding the forecast for if and when lawmakers will resume committee business — and how exactly that would work.

 It also comes as Clyburn has come under attack by Republicans accusing him of suggesting the crisis be leveraged to advance partisan priorities, which could undermine the work of the committee he’s been chosen to lead.
 
 The committee was formally created by the U.S. House on Thursday in a strictly party-line vote.
 But Clyburn, who is drawing inspiration for his own panel from the committee then-Sen. Harry Truman ran to police use of federal funds spent during World War II, insisted that “we are not here to score political points.”
 

“The legislative branch has a role to play in oversight,” he said. “I would hope that this committee will function with that in mind ... We are there to ensure the American people maintain confidence in their government. We need that now more than ever in my lifetime.”

At the top of the Clyburn’s list for the committee are investigations into the biggest controversies of the moment, like how publicly-traded companies, like the Ruth’s Chris Steak House restaurant conglomerate, were able to help exhaust the $349 billion government loan program specifically intended for small businesses decimated by the pandemic.

Then there are less obvious inquiries, such as whether states are wisely using their allocations from a $400 billion fund to expand mail-in voting to alleviate health concerns about voting in-person.

Clyburn said he wanted the committee to vet the implementation, and consequences, of certain provisions that have just been signed into law through new coronavirus response legislation.

He argued, for instance, that the committee should take a “hard look” at whether bankrupt companies ought to be prohibited from accessing new government loans, saying that some bankrupt organizations in the process of financial restructuring should be treated with more leniency than those that are liquidating their assets.
 
read more:

You need to be a member of Command Center to add comments!

Join Command Center

Email me when people reply –