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US House Republicans Seek Biden Admin. Accounting of Unspent COVID-19 Stimulus Funds

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Legislation that would require the Biden administration to disclose documents detailing previously approved COVID-19 relief funding that remains unspent, the senior Republicans on the US House Budget and Oversight committees said on Tuesday.
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"At a time when the Biden administration and the Democrat majority in Congress are barreling toward enacting another $1.9 trillion in bailout spending under the guise of the COVID-19 response, it is imperative that Congress - on behalf of hardworking American taxpayers - have a full understanding of what resources remain unspent from previously enacted legislation," a joint press release from the Budget Committee’s Jason Smith and Oversight Committee’s James Comer said.

The type of resolution requires that the committee with jurisdiction consider the measure within 14 days. Failure to act would allow the measure to be brought to the House floor for a vote, the sponsoring lawmakers said.

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Existing estimates show roughly $1 trillion in enacted COVD-19 stimulus funding remains unspent, the release said.

The lawmakers cited a Congressional Budget Office issued a report earlier this month projecting that the US economy will return to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels of growth in the real gross domestic product by the middle of this year, absent any further stimulus spending.

The latest $1.9 billion stimulus package is widely expected to be approved Congress, over objections by Republicans, who criticize the package as loaded with items unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic.

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