View source for United States Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery

{{Short description|United States government oversight body}}
{{Infobox official post
| post                     = Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery
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| insignia                 = Logo of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery.svg
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| type                     = Inspector General
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| nominator                = President
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| constituting_instrument  = Section 4018 of the CARES Act
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| formation                = 2020
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| website                  = {{URL|https://www.sigpr.gov/}}
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The '''Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery''' ('''SIGPR''') is an [[Office of Inspector General (United States)|Inspector General]] position created by the [[Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act|Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act]] of 2020 to oversee spending of government funds in response to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States]]. The position was included at the insistence of congressional Democrats.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Martin |title=Trump asserts power to decide what info inspector general gives Congress about stimulus package |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/489964-trump-asserts-power-to-decide-info-inspector-general-for-stimulus |website=[[The Hill (newspaper) | The Hill]] |access-date=9 April 2020 |language=en |date=28 March 2020}}</ref> The SIGPR is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

The position, as specified in Section 4018 of the CARES Act, is authorized to 
{{quote| conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the making, purchase, management, and sale of loans, loan guarantees, and other investments made by the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] under any program established by the Secretary under this Act, and the management by the Secretary of any program established under this Act.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pub.L. 116–136 - Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-116hr748enr/pdf/BILLS-116hr748enr.pdf |website=govinfo.gov |access-date=8 April 2020}}</ref>}}https://www.sigpr.gov

== History ==
President [[Donald Trump]] signed the CARES Act into law on 27 March 2020, but immediately noted that several stipulations related oversight would be ignored. The White House highlighted the language authorizing "the SIGPR to request information from other government agencies and requires the SIGPR to report to the Congress 'without delay' any refusal of such a request that 'in the judgment of the Special Inspector General' is unreasonable" and stated that the SIGPR would not be allowed to submit reports to Congress without White House supervision.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement by the President |url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/statement-by-the-president-38/ |access-date=8 April 2020 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |date=27 March 2020}}</ref> Critics of Trump's stance included Senators [[Mitt Romney]] (R-Utah) and [[Jon Tester]] (D-Mont), who wrote a letter to Trump on 3 April urging compliance with oversight requirements.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Byrnes |first1=Jesse |title=Romney warns Trump: Don't interfere with coronavirus relief oversight |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/491076-romney-warns-trump-dont-interfere-with-coronavirus-relief-oversight |website=[[The Hill (newspaper) | The Hill]] |access-date=9 April 2020 |language=en |date=3 April 2020}}</ref>

=== Brian Miller ===
[[File:Brian D. Miller.jpg|thumb|Brian D. Miller was confirmed to the post of Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery on June 2, 2020.]]
On 3 April 2020, President Trump indicated that he would nominate [[Brian D. Miller (attorney)|Brian D. Miller]] to be the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery. At the time, Miller was a special assistant to Trump and senior associate counsel in the [[Office of White House Counsel]]. This raised concerns about his ability to be apolitical; a former [[Assistant United States Attorney|assistant U.S. attorney]] opined, "It’s antithetical to oversight to have someone with a tight connection to the White House. It seems weird to have a White House lawyer play this role."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stein |first1=Jeff |title=Trump announces intent to nominate White House lawyer Brian Miller as inspector general for $2 trillion coronavirus law |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/03/trump-coronavirus-inspector-general-brian-miller/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=8 April 2020 |language=en |date=3 April 2020}}</ref> The selection was praised by the [[Project on Government Oversight]], among others, but criticized by Democrats, who noted that Miller, as part of the White House Counsel, defended President Trump during [[First impeachment of Donald Trump|his first impeachment]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Werner |first1=Erica |title=Trump's choice for coronavirus inspector general wins praise from some oversight experts as Democrats slam pick |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/04/04/brian-miller-trump-coronavirus-inspector-general/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=8 April 2020 |language=en |date=4 April 2020}}</ref> Senate Democratic Leader [[Chuck Schumer]] released a statement on April 4 saying that "a member of the president’s own staff is exactly the wrong type of person to choose for this position."<ref>{{cite web|title=Schumer Statement on Nomination of Brian Miller to be Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery {{!}} Senate Democratic Leadership|url=https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-statement-on-nomination-of-brian-miller-to-be-special-inspector-general-for-pandemic-recovery|last=Schumer|first=Chuck|date=4 April 2020|website=www.democrats.senate.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-05-02}}</ref>

Miller was formally nominated by the Trump administration on 6 April 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rappeport |first1=Alan |title=Trump's Inspector General Has Expressed Dim Views of Congressional Oversight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/us/politics/trump-inspector-general-brian-miller-virus.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=8 April 2020 |date=7 April 2020}}</ref> The [[United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs|U.S. Senate Banking Committee]] held his confirmation hearing on May 5<ref>{{cite web|title=Stage Set for Trump White House Lawyer Brian Miller's Confirmation for Coronavirus Watchdog|url=https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2020/04/29/stage-set-for-trump-white-house-lawyer-brian-millers-confirmation-for-coronavirus-watchdog/|last=Barber|first=C. Ryan|date=29 April 2020|website=National Law Journal|language=en|access-date=2020-05-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Coronavirus watchdog nominee pledges he won't seek Trump's permission to talk to Congress|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/05/trump-watchdog-hearing-237381|last1=Cheney|first1=Kyle|last2=Warmbrodt|first2=Zachary|date=5 May 2020|website=[[Politico]]|language=en|access-date=2020-05-07}}</ref> and voted on May 12 to advance his nomination to the full Senate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trump nominee for pandemic relief watchdog advanced by banking panel|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/12/trump-coronavirus-relief-watchdog-senate-banking-pane-251953|last=O'Donnell|first=Katy|date=12 May 2020|website=[[Politico]]|language=en|access-date=2020-05-16}}</ref> The Senate confirmed him on June 2.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rappeport|first=Alan|date=2020-06-02|title=Senate Confirms Inspector General to Oversee Virus Bailout Funds|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/us/politics/virus-bailout-inspector-general.html|access-date=2020-09-23|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[COVID-19 Congressional Oversight Commission]]
* [[Pandemic Response Accountability Committee]]
* [[United States House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official website|https://www.sigpr.gov/}}

{{COVID-19 pandemic in the United States}}
{{United States federal Offices of Inspector General}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery}}
[[Category:U.S. federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic]]
[[Category:Law associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States]]
[[Category:United States inspectors general|Pandemic]]
[[Category:Executive branch of the government of the United States]]