Under the Trump Administration, Chinese-manufactured imports were subject to large tariffs. China countered with a multi-pronged strategy to evade U.S. tariffs and trade restrictions. Recently, Chinese manufacturers have exploited a loophole in U.S. trade law by...
Forced labor is used around the world, particularly in the People’s Republic of China where the government continues to brutally repress Uyghurs and other ethnic groups from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The U.S. must remain firm in its unwavering...
This year, both the Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA) and the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act (SHIP) were successfully signed into law (P.L. 118-50). However, the Biden-Harris Administration has failed to meet the deadlines to...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined The Ingraham Angle to discuss potential foreign involvement in the assassination attempts on President Trump. See below for highlights. On the involvement of foreign actors in assassination attempts on American political figures:...
Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence questioned Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg on fact-checking policies at Facebook and Instagram during a hearing on the responsibility of U.S. tech companies to help secure our...
Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence delivered opening remarks during a hearing on the responsibilities of U.S. technology companies to help secure our nation from foreign influence operations in the 2024 elections. “I think...
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller General Gene Dodaro requesting a GAO review on how the states, localities, and tribes spent $350 billion in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).
“It was an unprecedented allocation of emergency federal funding to state and local entities, which many of my colleagues and I warned would become a slush fund plagued by mismanagement and abuse,” Rubio wrote. “The stories of waste and abuse are piling up. States and localities have reportedly used the money to renovate baseball stadiums, replace golf course irrigation systems, push new local marketing campaigns to attract tourists, revamp websites, and fund construction of a luxury hotel.”
“Reports of outrageous and wasteful spending come at the same time the Biden Administration demands additional funding for COVID-related programs,” Rubio continued. “During a time of soaring prices, continued supply chain challenges, and other disruptions to our economy, taxpayers and lawmakers must have transparency into how this funding is being used.”
El full text of the letter .
Dear Mr. Dodaro:
El American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provided $350 billion to the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to “mitigate the fiscal effects stemming from the public health emergency.” It was an unprecedented allocation of emergency federal funding to state and local entities, which many of my colleagues and I warned would become a slush fund plagued by mismanagement and abuse. Unfortunately, recent reports have uncovered the exact kind of irresponsible actions we feared. As such, I write to request a full GAO review of state and local governments’ use of SLFRF funds to ensure that taxpayers benefit from full transparency and Congress can protect against further waste and abuse.
ARPA included broad guardrails with respect to how state and local governments could use SLFRF funding, including responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its negative economic effects on communities, providing additional supports to essential workers, replacing lost or delayed revenues, and making certain infrastructure investments. Additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury further clarified the allowable usage of such funds, providing a remarkable level of flexibility and streamlining the funding distribution process.
The stories of waste and abuse are piling up. States and localities have reportedly used the money to renovate baseball stadiums, replace golf course irrigation systems, push new local marketing campaigns to attract tourists, revamp websites, and fund construction of a luxury hotel. Regardless of how much flexibility some in our legislative body may have wanted to attach to these hundreds of billions of dollars, few can argue that this is what Congress had in mind.
Reports of outrageous and wasteful spending come at the same time the Biden Administration demands additional funding for COVID-related programs. During a time of soaring prices, continued supply chain challenges, and other disruptions to our economy, taxpayers and lawmakers must have transparency into how this funding is being used.
In response, I ask for a GAO review of usage of state and local relief funding provided through the ARPA SLFRF. I look forward to your forthcoming report.
Atentamente,