Congress has passed three relief bills providing critical aid to citizens and businesses struggling to stay afloat in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet from the onset, there have been major oversight issues with examples of large corporations abusing relief and our tax dollars, as well as evidence of companies with Trump administration connections benefiting from contracts and taxpayer-funded relief.

The potential for further abuse is enormous, which demands further actions by Congress to protect taxpayer dollars and to ensure that the public understands whether relief funds are being spent as intended, for the good of the nation as a whole and to the needs of those most vulnerable.

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, and Chris Coons, and Representatives Pramila Jayapal and John Sarbanes have introduced new legislation to beef up oversight of the administration’s COVID-19 relief effort. The Coronavirus Oversight and Recovery Ethics (CORE) Act would make it harder to fire government inspectors general, give subpoena power to the congressional watchdog tasked with monitoring coronavirus relief funds, and protect whistleblowers in the public and private sectors who come forward with evidence of fraud related to the coronavirus response.

The CORE Act offers commonsense oversight and transparency measures solely dedicated to ensuring that our taxpayer dollars are being awarded to those in need and spent according to the intent of the law.

These provisions must be enacted to ensure taxpayer dollars do not serve the interests of the wealthy or well-connected to the exclusion of the American people.