WASHINGTON-Republican Whip and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Ranking Member Steve Scalise (R-La.) today called on Chairman James Clyburn (D-S.C.) to invite Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to testify at next week’s hearing regarding the Department of Treasury’s failure to administer tens of billions of dollars in pandemic rental assistance relief.
“Now more than seven months since President Trump authorized the first tranche of emergency rental assistance, the bulk of the $46 billion appropriated by Congress has still not reached renters. The data indicates the Biden Administration has been ineffective with respect to administering the $46 billion emergency rental assistance programs," wrote Scalise.
Since December 2020, Congress has appropriated more than $46 billion to assist renters who fell behind on payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the most recent data show only $1.5 billion was provided to 350,000 households and a federal eviction moratorium is set to expire on July 31, 2021. Secretary Yellen has not testified to House committees of jurisdiction to answer questions about key COVID-19 relief programs, despite various statutory mandates that require her to do so.
Scalise concluded, “We would like to hear from her again especially in light of her critical role in administering the floundering emergency rental assistance program, the imminent expiration of the federal eviction moratorium, and scarce testimony from the Biden Administration about the possibility of an eviction crisis."
The full text of the letter can be found here.
