Bloomberg: U.S. Doled Out Billions In Fraudulent COVID Aid. Where’s The Accountability?

The Biden administration should focus more on investigating and remedying billions of dollars worth of COVID-19 aid fraud before pumping out more of such spending, Bloomberg’s editorial board wrote on Monday.

In an op-ed published Monday morning, Bloomberg pointed out that the Secret Service estimates that $100 billion in COVID-19 relief funds may have been doled out in fraudulent claims, corrupt deals, or to dead people. The article suggests that Secret Service estimates may be too conservative, however. The editors write:

Even that may be understating the problem. As little as 23% of the $800 billion doled out by the Paycheck Protection Program actually found its way into workers’ pockets. A Department of Labor study estimated that more than $87 billion in emergency unemployment benefits were improperly paid. The Small Business Administration has (among other blunders) disbursed more than $6.2 billion to loan applicants it now suspects of identity theft. Somehow, the Internal Revenue Service managed to issue 2.2 million stimulus checks — worth about $3.5 billion — to dead people.

Only in government could such calamitous neglect be considered business as usual.

So far, the federal government has approved roughly $6 trillion in COVID-19 funds. In providing the funds to Americans in need, however, the government bungled operations with a lack of oversight and communications, leading to “the largest oversight challenge” of President Joe Biden’s administration, Biden’s chief coordinator for COVID-19 spending said last month. – READ MORE