{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.scott.senate.gov/media-center/press-releases/scott-joins-call-for-ig-audit-of-bidens-10-billion-covid-19-vaccine-public-education-campaign/", "Scott Joins Call for IG Audit of Biden\u2019s $10 Billion COVID-19 Vaccine Public Education Campaign", "2022-07-26", "2022", "2022-07", "Republican", "Senate", "SC", "Tim Scott", "S001184", "www.scott.senate.gov", "timscott", "https://www.scott.senate.gov/media-center/press-releases/jsf/jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 This week, Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and several other Republican colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm requesting an audit of the Biden administration\u2019s $10 billion COVID-19 vaccine public education campaign, which was launched in March 2021 to increase vaccine awareness and confidence.\n\nSenators Scott and Burr were joined by Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), as well as Representatives Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash).\n\nIn their letter, the members call for greater accountability from the Biden administration, following its continued attempt to disregard Congressional oversight requests on how COVID-19 emergency funding has been spent.\n\n\u201cSince the beginning of the pandemic, Congress has passed five bipartisan COVID-19 relief bills totaling $3.496 trillion,\u201d write the members. \u201cRecently, it has been reported that the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats are pursuing yet another partisan spending bill, despite record levels of inflation and billions of unspent dollars in COVID-19 relief funds. To date, the Biden administration\u2019s accounting of how it spent trillions of dollars in past COVID-19 relief funding has been inadequate.\u201d\n\nThe members continue, \u201cAs part of Congress\u2019s effort to understand exactly how the Biden administration spent COVID-19 relief money, we request an audit of a $10 billion COVID-19 vaccine public education campaign launched by the Biden administration and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).\u201d\n\nThe members also raise concerns over the involvement of highly partisan organizations in the public education campaign, potentially inappropriate direct or indirect funding to these politically-affiliated groups, and possible access these organizations may have to personally identifiable information of Americans.\n\n\u201cIt is incredible that HHS and the Biden administration would partner with partisan political organizations and Democrat-affiliated campaign consultants on a $10 billion taxpayer funded vaccine confidence public education campaign, ostensibly intended to appeal to all Americans. It is not clear from publicly available information exactly what these groups do and what benefits they may derive from being a \u2018founding member\u2019 of the COVID-19 Community Corps,\u201d the members write.\n\n\u201cFirst, we are concerned that some of these \u2018founding members\u2019 may inappropriately receive direct or indirect funding and support from HHS for partisan activities,\u201d the members continue. \u201cSecond, HHS\u2019s agencies contain or have access to vast amounts of personally identifiable information on hundreds of millions of Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe request that you initiate an audit and investigation of the HHS COVID-19 Communicators program and related public relations campaigns with a specific focus on the whether \u2018founding members\u2019 received government funding or access to Americans\u2019 personal information.\u201d\n\nTo read the full letter, click here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:20:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.scott.senate.gov/media-center/press-releases/scott-joins-call-for-ig-audit-of-bidens-10-billion-covid-19-vaccine-public-education-campaign/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4732889831066132, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}