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Congressional Research Service IN11343 (The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee: Organization and Duties)

Summary

A Congressional Research Service Insight, IN11343, by Ben Wilhelm, updated April 28, 2020, on the organization and duties of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), created by the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) to "conduct and support oversight" of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It explains that Section 15010(b) of the act establishes the PRAC within the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). It lists the statutory members under Section 15010(c)(2): the chairperson, the inspectors general of the Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, Labor and the Treasury, the Small Business Administration inspector general and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

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                                                                                            INSIGHTi



The Pandemic Response Accountability
Committee: Organization and Duties

Ben Wilhelm
Analyst in Government Organization and Management

Updated April 28, 2020
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) created a new federal
entity, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), to “conduct and support oversight” of
the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and promote transparency.
This Insight provides an introduction to the organization and duties of the PRAC.


Organization
Section 15010(b) of the CARES Act establishes the PRAC within the Council of Inspectors General on
Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), the oversight and coordination body for the inspector general
community. The statutory members of the PRAC under Section 15010(c)(2) are:
       the chairperson;
       the departmental inspectors general of the Departments of Defense (DOD), Education,
        Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, and the Treasury;
       the Small Business Administration inspector general; and
       the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
In addition to those members, the chairperson of the PRAC may designate any other inspector general
who serves in an “agency that expends or obligates covered funds or is involved in the Coronavirus
response” to serve on the PRAC (§15010(c)(2)(E)).
The CIGIE chairperson (currently Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz) has the
authority to select the PRAC chairperson and vice chairperson from among the PRAC’s statutory
members (§15010(c)(1)). The CIGIE chairperson is required to appoint an executive director within 30

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                                                                                               IN11343

CRS INSIGHT
Prepared for Members and
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days of enactment (i.e., April 26, 2020) and a deputy executive director within 90 days of enactment (i.e.,
June 25, 2020). When making each appointment, the CIGIE chairperson is required to consult the
majority and minority leadership of the House and the Senate.
Title V of Division B of the CARES Act, under the heading “Pandemic Response Accountability
Committee,” appropriates $80 million in non-expiring funds for the PRAC. The PRAC is also provided
with authority to hire additional staff to support its activities (§15010(f)).
The PRAC is scheduled to terminate on September 30, 2025 (§15010(k)).

Early Developments
On March 30, 2020, Horowitz appointed then-acting DOD Inspector General Glenn Fine as PRAC
chairperson. Following his appointment, Fine added additional members to the PRAC and appointed
NASA Inspector General Paul Martin on April 1, 2020.
On April 6, 2020, President Trump named Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General Sean
O’Donnell to replace Fine as acting DOD inspector general, and Fine was no longer eligible to serve as
PRAC chairperson. Horowitz is currently serving as acting chairperson. On April 27, 2020, Horowitz
appointed Robert A. Westbrooks, inspector general for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, as the
PRAC executive director.


Duties
The statutory role of the PRAC is to “promote transparency and conduct and support oversight” of the
federal government’s COVID-19 response by preventing and detecting waste, fraud, abuse, and
mismanagement and mitigating risks that “cut across program and agency boundaries” (§15010(b)).
Specifically, the PRAC is tasked with coordinating and monitoring the federal government’s COVID-19
response (§15010(d)(1)(B)), conducting oversight (§15010(e)), and maintaining a public website that
collects specified information. Each of these functions is discussed in more detail below.

Coordinating and Monitoring the Federal COVID-19 Response
Section 15010(d)(1)(B) of the CARES Act establishes coordinating functions for the PRAC, including:
        developing a strategic plan for oversight of the federal government’s COVID-19 response
         and coordinating with and supporting inspectors general,
        conducting a comprehensive audit and review of charges to federal contracts under the
         CARES Act, and
        reviewing whether there are sufficient qualified personnel to manage those programs and
         whether they have sufficient resources.
The PRAC is directed to make recommendations to agencies (including, with some exceptions, “each
authority of the Government of the United States, whether or not it is within or subject to review by
another agency”) to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse and to mitigate other risks (§15010(d)(3)(A)). The
PRAC is also directed to provide management alerts and other reports to Congress and the President that
identify potential problems and provide updates on the PRAC’s work. Finally, the PRAC is required to
submit biannual reports to Congress and the President summarizing its recommendations and findings. To
the extent possible, these reports are also required to quantify the impact of any tax credits and
expenditures provided as part of the federal government’s COVID-19 response (§15010(d)(2)).
Congressional Research Service                                                                             3




Oversight
The PRAC is also directed to conduct its own audits and reviews of the federal government’s COVID-19
response and to collaborate with inspectors general on such audits and reviews (§15010(e)). When
conducting audits and reviews, the PRAC has similar authorities to those provided to inspectors general
(§15010(e)(3)(A)(i)) pursuant to the Inspector General Act of 1978. Additionally, the CARES Act
explicitly provides that the PRAC may issue and enforce subpoenas (§15010(e)(3)(A)) and hold public
hearings (§15010(e)(4)(A)). If the PRAC determines that it or any inspector general’s office has been
unreasonably denied information or assistance, it is required to immediately notify the “appropriate
congressional committees” (§15010(e)(4)(C)).

Public Website
The PRAC is also required to establish a “user-friendly, public-facing website to foster greater
accountability and transparency” in the federal government’s COVID-19 response (§15010(g)(1)(A)).
The CARES Act authorizes, but does not require, integration of this website into oversight.gov, which is
operated by CIGIE (§15010(g)(1)(B)). Under Section 15010(g)(3), the website is required to collect
public feedback and provide a variety of information on the COVID-19 response, including:
        “accountability information” such as inspector general reports and recommendations and
         the findings and reports prepared by the Government Accountability Office;
        “operational, economic, financial, grant, subgrant, contract, and subcontract” data in
         “user-friendly visual presentations;”
        “downloadable, machine-readable, open format reports on covered funds obligated by
         month to each State and congressional district;” and
        “all recommendations made to agencies” related to the COVID-19 response and the
         status of each recommendation.
In order to implement these requirements, Section 15011 requires agencies to report regularly to the
PRAC, among other entities, on any obligation or expenditure of covered funds greater than $150,000.
On April 27, 2020, the PRAC launched its website, https://pandemic.oversight.gov/.




                                      IN11343 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED
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