Trump administration response to pandemic slammed in report
A government watchdog study from a generally staid audit agency amounts to a wide-reaching condemnation of President Donald Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 346-page Government Accountability Office document, much longer than most, outlines broad Trump administration failures so alarming that the normally circumspect auditors pronounced themselves “deeply troubled.”
Almost 90 percent — 27 of 31 — of the GAO’s recommendations from June, September and November “remained unimplemented” as of Jan. 15, less than a week before Trump left office.
“GAO remains deeply troubled that agencies have not acted on recommendations to more fully address critical gaps in the medical supply chain,” it said.
The medical supply chain covers a large range of actions and materials related to the pandemic, including coronavirus testing, vaccines, therapeutics and personal protective equipment.
The report focused largely on the Department of Health and Human Services, which leads the government’s response. But the review also cited integrity issues involving overpayments worth $1.1 billion in the Department of Labor’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and 3,000 Small Business Administration loans to potentially ineligible companies.
And the report noted that after the administration’s success in promoting rapid development of coronavirus vaccines — the one bright spot in its COVID response — it failed to follow the GAO’s implementation recommendations.
Former HHS Secretary Alex Azar and a Trump spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment.