Clyburn says stimulus spending oversight committee will be ‘forward looking’

House Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Sunday the House committee formed to oversee the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic will be “forward looking” as opposed to examining what was done in the months leading up to the crisis. 

“My understanding is that this committee will be forward looking, we are not going to be looking back on what the president may or may not have done back before this crisis hit. The crisis is with us,” Clyburn said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

Rep. James Clyburn on the committee that will oversee stimulus spending: “This is about focusing on how the money is spent, whether or not the people who are getting the money are actually working on behalf of the American people or whether or not they are profiteering” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/eaWPOVEONF

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 5, 2020

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tapped Clyburn to lead the bipartisan panel she announced the formation of on Thursday. Pelosi said the panel would oversee the distribution of funds from the unprecedented $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package and “protect against price-gauging, profiteering and political favoritism.”

Later that day Trump, at a White House coronavirus briefing, railed against “partisan investigations” and “witch hunts.”

{mosads}Clyburn on Sunday said the panel would simply oversee the stimulus spending.

“The American people are now out of work, millions of them out of work, the question is whether or not the money appropriated will go to support the them and their families or whether or not the money will end up in the pockets of a few profiteers,” Clyburn said. 

Lawmakers have passed three relief packages to address the economic fallout from the pandemic. The third and largest will send checks to many Americans, set up a $500 billion corporate liquidity fund and provide $377 billion in aid to small businesses.