Pentagon watchdog tapped to lead committee overseeing $2 trillion coronavirus package

The nation's top government watchdogs on Monday appointed Glenn Fine, the acting inspector general for the Pentagon, to lead the newly created committee that oversees implementation of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill signed by President Donald Trump last week.

Fine will lead a panel of fellow inspectors general, dubbed the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, and command an $80 million budget meant to "promote transparency and support oversight" of the massive disaster response legislation. His appointment was made by a fellow committee of inspectors general, assigned by the new law to pick a chairman of the committee.

Fine, who served as Justice Department inspector general from 2000 to 2011 — spanning parts of the Clinton, Bush and Obama presidencies — will join nine other inspectors general on the new committee. They include the IGs of the Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, and the Treasury; the inspector general of the Small Business Administration; and the Treasury inspector general for Tax Administration.

“Mr. Fine is uniquely qualified to lead the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, given his more than 15 years of experience as an Inspector General overseeing large organizations — 11 years as the Department of Justice Inspector General and the last 4 years performing the duties of the Department of Defense Inspector General," said Michael Horowitz, the top watchdog at the Justice Department who leads the group of inspectors general that made the appointment. "The Inspector General Community recognizes the need for transparency surrounding, and strong and effective independent oversight of, the federal government’s spending in response to this public health crisis."

The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee is one of three major prongs in the new law meant to provide oversight of the enormous sums to be doled out by the Trump administration. The others include a new "special inspector general" to oversee the Treasury Department's disbursal of $500 billion in funds to support distressed industries and shore up the collapsing economy. Trump is slated to nominate that inspector general, who will then face Senate confirmation.

In addition, the law establishes a Congressional Oversight Commission appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The five appointees of that panel have yet to be named but are due to file reports within 30 days of the disbursal of funds by the Treasury Department.

But it's the panel led by Fine that has the broadest purview. It's charged with "developing a strategic plan to ensure coordinated, efficient, and effective comprehensive oversight by the Committee and Inspectors General over all aspects of covered funds and the Coronavirus response; auditing or reviewing covered funds, including a comprehensive audit and review of charges made to Federal contracts pursuant to authorities provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, to determine whether wasteful spending, poor contract or grant management, or other abuses are occurring and referring matters the Committee considers appropriate for investigation to the Inspector General for the agency that disbursed the covered funds, including conducting randomized 19 audits to identify fraud."

The new law also charges the committee with rooting out waste, fraud and abuse discovered in any coronavirus response programs and acting as a liaison between several federal agencies involved in the effort. It gives the chairman subpoena power and requires regular reporting to the public and Congress of its activities, including a notification to lawmakers if any of the inspectors general are denied information from agencies they're reviewing.

Some of these provisions may be on a collision course with Trump, who has indicated he intends to treat as optional the law's provisions that require reporting or consultation with Congress.

Trump, in particular, has indicated that a requirement that the "special inspector general" report to Congress any time he or she is denied information would be improper without presidential approval, undercutting a key element of oversight that helped win over some Democrats wavering over whether to support the $2 trillion bill. It's unclear whether Trump will also apply that principle to Fine's panel as well.

“Glenn Fine has a good reputation as a tough federal prosecutor and former DOJ Inspector General, and must exercise his full oversight authority to ensure that the Trump administration implements the CARES Act as intended," said Schumer in a statement on Monday.