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American People Deserve Full Accounting of Funds

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy Rodgers (R-WA) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), along with the chairs of the subcommittee of jurisdiction, today wrote letters to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Energy (DOE), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), requesting a full accounting of how they’ve spent taxpayer dollars.

KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “Over the past two years, under one-party, Democratic rule, Congress and the Biden administration have spent trillions of dollars across the federal government. Beginning with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and most recently with the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Democrats have funneled an excessive amount of taxpayer dollars to advance their radical, progressive agenda and to benefit their political allies. The American people deserve a full, transparent, and regular accounting of the funds that have been spent, where the funds have gone, who has benefited, and how much remains.”

The Chairs specifically requested funding information from: ARPA, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the IRA, including but not limited to:

1. The total amount of funding from each Act that has been obligated to date.

2. A list of each financial award funded, in part or in full, by these laws, including the following information for each award:

a.    All recipients for which funding has been expended.

b.    All recipients for which funding has been obligated.

c.     The amount of funding that has been obligated for each recipient.

d.    A description of the project funded.

e.    The type of award (i.e., grant, loan, etc.).

3. The number, job title, compensation, and duties of any employees, contractors, or consultants who have been hired or engaged using the funding, in whole or in part.

4. An accounting of the funds that have not yet been obligated.

CLICK HERE to read the letter from Chairs Rodgers and Griffith and Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) to DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm regarding more the than $100 billion above annual appropriations and the more than 60 new programs created with little Congressional scrutiny of long-term taxpayer risks.

CLICK HERE to read the letter from Chairs Rodgers and Griffith and Health Subcommittee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra requesting information related to:

·         The IRA’s Implementation Fund designed to carry out the law’s drug pricing provisions

·         The Provider Relief Fund has had $178 billion appropriated into it

·         Vaccine Education Funding, which includes more than a billion dollars

·         Funding appropriated COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics, Testing, and Supplies, which the Biden administration rerouted billions to other programs—like housing illegal immigrants at the border—before asking Congress for additional resources

CLICK HERE to read the letter from Chairs Rodgers and Griffith and Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chair Bob Latta (R-OH) to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel requesting information related to:

·         $98 million to implement the Broadband DATA Act, as well as the status of the broadband map development 

·         $450 million for the COVID-19 telehealth program

·         $3.2 billion for the Emergency Broadband Benefit 

·         $7.17 billion for the Emergency Connectivity Fund program

·         $14.2 billion for the Affordable Broadband Benefit

CLICK HERE to read the letter from Chairs Rodgers, Griffith and Latta to NTIA Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson requesting information related to:

·         $300 million for the Broadband Infrastructure Program

·         $3 billion for tribal broadband deployment

·         $285 million for the Connecting Minority Communities Program

·         $42.45 billion for the Broadband, Equity, Accessibility, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

·         $2.75 billion for digital equity grants

·         $1 billion for middle mile infrastructure