GAO report criticizes FEMA's handling of pandemic program funding

GAO report critical of FEMA's handling of pandemic A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has yet to identify lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.  CIDRAP

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The report examined the status of obligations and expenditures related to COVID-19 and how FEMA estimated spending from January 2020 to March 2024. For fiscal years 2020 through 2024, Congress passed both annual and supplemental appropriations for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) totaling $97 billion, the GAO said.

The COVID-19 pandemic was the first time a president authorized the use of the DRF, meant to provide aid during natural disasters, to respond to a nationwide public health emergency. Since March 2020, the president has issued 59 major disaster declarations for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, five territories, and three Tribes. FEMA manages the DRF.

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