Inspectors general tasked with overseeing $2.2 trillion in relief funding take first oversight steps

Current Justice Department watchdog Michael Horowitz tapped Robert Westbrooks to oversee the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

The council of inspectors general tasked with overseeing the $2.2 trillion in federal stimulus funds has begun to set up an oversight apparatus. In its first actions taken since Donald Trump fired the person initially charged with leading the effort, the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency named an executive director for the relief oversight committee and launched a website.

Michael Horowitz, the current Justice Department inspector general, also named himself the "acting chair" of the council. Horowitz had originally put acting Defense Department IG Glenn Fine in the role, but Trump swiftly ousted Fine.

Robert Westbrooks will now oversee the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) as executive director. A statement from the council said Westbrook has over 15 years of experience "conducting independent oversight" as a public accountant, a certified internal auditor, and a certified information systems auditor. Westbrooks most recently served as IG for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which oversaw the retirement benefits of 35 million Americans.

Horowitz called Westbrooks "well-suited" for the post due his "vast experience" in federal oversight.

The committee's newly launched website, pandemic.oversight.gov, is intended to provide the public with information about allocation of the funding and oversight reports, along with a mechanism for reporting fraud and abuse.