Unspent funds color debate over additional pandemic relief
Democrats anticipate a new White House request for additional funds to cushion the fallout from a lingering COVID-19 pandemic that could pump more money into testing, vaccines, hospitals and schools.
But after several previous rounds of relief, including last year’s mammoth $1.9 trillion package, any new request is sure to be met with questions about whether existing funds are still in the pipeline.
Of $5.7 trillion in fiscal support Congress has provided since early 2020, about $800 billion remains unspent or uncommitted, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a think tank, though those figures are reported with a lag.
Two key Republican senators have already raised questions about why the nation faces a virus testing shortage after Congress appropriated what they estimated to be $82.6 billion for testing-related programs over the last two years.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/unspent-funds-color-debate-over-additional-pandemic-relief/ar-AATf58o
Probably because Jared ran it for one of those years.
