House Republican committee to focus on Covid virus origins, U.S. pandemic spending

House GOP to focus COVID panel on virus origins, pandemic spending Republicans have significantly retooled the focus of the House panel investigating the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, a move that aligns with the new majority’s over… nweixel The Hill

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As part of the rules package that passed the House 220-213 on Monday night, the 12-member Select Committee on the Coronavirus Response will be charged with examining the origins of the pandemic, including federal funding of gain-of-function research.

The examination of gain-of-function research is central to the common GOP position that the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China, and was potentially backed by funding from the U.S. government. Last year, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a report concluding the pandemic began with a virus that escaped from the Wuhan lab.

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The coronavirus committee will also investigate trillions of dollars in aid doled out to address the pandemic, federal COVID-19-related mandates, and the impact of school closures. Republicans have been frustrated with what they see as the administration’s unaccountable coronavirus spending and are looking to shine a spotlight on where the relief money has gone.

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