On April 10, 2023, Congress terminated the three‐year‐long COVID-19 national emergency—one of the most expensive emergency declarations ever at more than $7 trillion in spending, as reported by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the Heritage Foundation. Whenever such emergency declarations occur, the president is required by law to submit spending reports to Congress. With respect to the COVID-19 spending, President Biden apparently has not done so.
Based on press releases, letters to the administration, and congressional floor speeches, the administration has reportedly failed to follow the law. Failure to report emergency expenditures undermines transparency and accountability. This needs to change.
The National Emergencies Act (NEA), enacted in 1976, exists to limit the executive’s emergency powers. It requires the president to submit a spending summary for each ongoing national emergency to Congress every six months. The president must also send a final total ninety days after an emergency declaration ends. NEA expenditure reports are supposed to encompass any spending that is “directly attributable” to a national emergency declaration.
A major impediment to holding the executive accountable for ignoring emergency spending reporting requirements is that these reports are not easy to trace. NEA spending reports are not typically published online and the few that are lack detail as shown by this compilation of Treasury Department emergency expenditure reports. Greater transparency is essential in policing executive emergency spending abuses. Congress should revise NEA expenditure reporting rules to ensure they are as comprehensive as practicable and easily accessible to both legislators and the public.
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