Report to Congress: April 1, 2022 through September 30, 2022

We're pleased to present the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee's (PRAC) Semiannual Report to Congress. The PRAC has now been operational for two and a half years, and this report shows the impact of our innovative approach to overseeing historical levels of emergency government spending and fighting pandemic relief fraud. During the reporting period, 26 different federal Inspectors General issued 114 reports with 343 recommendations to improve the federal government’s response to the pandemic.

Here’s a summary of our accomplishments from April 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022.

Highlights from the report

1. White House Recognition

During an April 2022 meeting, President Biden cited the PRAC’s oversight of pandemic relief funds as a model for infrastructure funding oversight.

2. Congressional Testimony

In June 2022, our Chair testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis and described the burden that existing redress programs place on identity theft victims.

3. Lessons Learned Update

We updated our initial report with 5 new lessons to improve this relief effort – and future ones.

4. “Time Tax” Event

We co-sponsored a virtual event featuring a panel of experts that discussed barriers people faced getting pandemic relief benefits and solutions to make it easier.

5. Identity Theft Risk Advisory

We issued a risk advisory with HUD OIG and SBA OIG about identity theft involving minors and the elderly in pandemic relief programs.

6. Media Coverage

Our work was profiled in national news outlets, such as the Associated Press, Fox Business, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

7. Growing Staff

During the reporting period, we onboarded 18 new hires, increasing our staff by 22%.

“The PRAC and its partners have the tools, the talent, and the teamwork to effectively oversee $5 trillion in pandemic relief funds and fight fraud, waste, and abuse. Our approach to collaborative oversight has been recognized as a successful template to follow.”

Michael E. Horowitz, PRAC Chair

New ways for the public to explore spending data.

We launched new agency funding profiles that show the total amount of pandemic relief money that nearly 40 federal agencies received, and the specific programs funded. We also created lots of new content to help you follow pandemic relief funds. PandemicOversight.gov now features a live spending tracker, a simpler way to search Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) data, and new dashboards featuring spending data from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, Shuttered Venue Operators Grants, and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

Learn more about our new datasets in the full report.

We launched the first-ever state auditor-in-residence program.

Collaborating with our state and local oversight partners brought crucial insight into how funds were spent. We supercharged that effort by creating an auditor-in-residence program that brings two auditors from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office with a combined 30 years’ worth of experience auditing complex, high-profile programs.

We gave more than 40 million business loans a fraud risk score.

Our Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence data scientists developed a fraud risk score for 12.5 million PPP loans and 27.8 million Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). This helps the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General more effectively target its investigations and identifies gaps in internal controls.

See more examples of how we’re using data to find fraud in $5 trillion in the full report.

Watchdogs now have double the time to pursue fraud in small business loan programs.

President Biden signed the COVID–19 EIDL Fraud Statute of Limitations Act of 2022 and the PPP and Bank Fraud Enforcement Harmonization Act of 2022 into law, extending the statute of limitations for PPP and EIDL fraud from 5 years to 10 years. The 10-year statute of limitations is consistent with bank fraud, the charge in most of these cases.

PRAC Chair Michael Horowitz and SBA Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware championed these bills. At the time of signing, there were more than 650 active investigations into PPP and EIDL loan fraud.

Learn more about other legislation we’re supporting in the full report.

Previous Reports to Congress

Page last modified: 10/18/2023